To the President of Congress, No. 17

[dateline] Paris Hotel de Valois Ruë de Richelieu March 12th. 1780

[salute] Sir

It is an Observation made some Years ago by a great Writer of this Nation de Mably,1 that the Project of being sole Master of the Sea, and of commanding all the Commerce,
is not less chimerical, nor less ruinous, than that of universal Monarchy, on Land:
And it is to be wished, for the Happiness of Europe, that the English may be convinced
of this Truth, before they shall have learned it by their own Experience. France has
already repeated, several Times, that it was necessary to establish an Equilibrium,
a Ballance of Power at Sea: and She has not yet convinced any Body because She is
the dominant Power: and because they suspect her, to desire the Abasement of the English,
only that, She may domineer the more surely, on the Continent. But if England abuses
her Power, and would exercise a kind of Tyranny over Commerce, presently all the States
that have Vessels and Sailors, astonished that they had not before believed France,
will { 38 } join themselves to her to assist her in avenging her Injuries. Principes des Negotiation.
p. 90.

The present Conjuncture of Affairs resembles so exactly the Case that is here put,
that it seems to be a literal fulfilment of a Prophecy.

A Domination upon the Sea is so much the more dangerous to other maritime Powers and
commercial Nations, as it is more difficult to form Alliances and to combine Forces
at Sea, than at Land. For which Reason it is essential, the Sovereign of every commercial
State, should make his national Flagg be respected, in all the Seas, and by all the
Nations of the World. The English have ever acted upon this Principle, in supporting
the Honor of their own Flagg, but of late Years have grown less and less attentive
to it as it respects the Honor of other Flaggs. Not content with making their Flagg
respectable, they have grown more and more ambitious of making it terrible. Unwilling
to do as they would be done by, and to treat other Commercial Nations, as they insisted
upon being treated by them, they have grown continually more and more haughty, turbulent
and insolent upon the Seas, and are now never satisfied until they have made all other
Nations see that they despise them upon that Element.2

It is said by the Baron de Bielfield, that Piracies and Robberies at Sea, are so odious,
so atrocious and so destructive to the interests of all the European Nations, that
every thing is permitted to repress them. Providence has not granted to any People,
an exclusive Empire upon the Seas. To aim at setting up a Master there, to prescribe
Laws to other free Nations, is an Outrage to all Europe.3

I have quoted these Authorities, because they contain the true Principle, upon which,
as I have ever concieved, the English began this War, and upon which they will assuredly
continue it, as long as they can get Men and Money, which will be as long as they
shall have Success. They contain also the true Principle of the Conduct of France
and Spain, and Holland and all the other Powers of Europe. The Outrages committed
upon the Dutch Commerce and the Insults offered to their Flagg ought to be and are
alarming to all the Maritime Powers.

The late Successes of the English, will have no Tendency to allay the Fears of these
Powers; on the contrary, they will increase the Alarm, by showing the precarious Situation
they will all be in, if England should finally succeed, which some of them may perhaps
apprehend from the late brilliant Fortune of Admiral Rodney.

One cannot but be struck with the rapid Series of fortunate Incidents for the English,
which has been, published here in the Course { 39 } of about three Months that I have been in Europe. The little Affair of Omoa began
it; the Repulse at Savannah succeeded with all its Consequences; the Curacao Fleet
was next, Langara's fate soon followed, Gibralter was relieved, Don Gaston's Squadron
was dispersed by a Storm, and Admiral Rodney had Opportunity to get safe out of Gibralter.
The French East India Fleet brings up the Rear.4 There is hardly in History such a Series of Events that no human Wisdom could provide
against or foresee: yet after all, the Advantage gained is by no means decisive, altho'
no doubt it will raise the Ambition of the English, and in some degree damp the Ardor
of their Enemies.

It must not have this Effect however upon America. Let the Maritime Powers of Europe
fare as they will, we must be free, and I trust in God we shall be so whatever may
be their Fate. The Events of War are uncertain, at Sea more than even at Land. But
America has Resources for the final Defence of her Liberties, which Britain will never
be able to exhaust, though they should exhaust France and Spain, and it may not impossibly
be our hard Fate, but it will be our unfading Glory, finally to turn the Scale of
the War, to humble the Pride which is so terrible to the Commercial Nations of Europe,
and produce a Ballance of Power upon the Seas. To this End, Americans must be Soldiers
and Seamen.

It is proper however, to keep constantly in Sight the Power, against which We have
to contend.

The English have in all the Ports of England, in a Condition of actual Service, or
at least given out and reported to be so, twenty Ships of the Line. In the Course
of the Spring and the Month of June, eight others which are now repairing, and three
new ones in the Course of the Year. The whole Squadron for the Channel will be thirty
one. The Squadron of Arbuthnot at New York, consists of five —that of Jarvis at the
Western Islands is two, including the Dublin, which was detached from Admiral Rodney
and is now in bad Condition at Lisbon—one only at Jamaica for the Lion is too far
ruined to be counted. The Fleet at the other Islands, joined by the Hector, detached
from Rodney, the Triumph and the Intrepid, lately sailed from England, is Nineteen,
seven of which at least are in too bad a Condition for actual Service. That of India,
including two which serve for Convoys, consists of ten: two of which however are returning
to be repaired or condemned. The Lenox, is a Guard Ship in Ireland.

Rodney entered Gibralter with four Spanish Ships of the Line, the Phanix of eighty
Guns, the Monarca, the Princessa and the Diligente { 40 } of seventy, besides the Guipuscoa, now the Prince William, of sixty five, which he
took with the Convoy on the eighth of January. He entered also with the Shrewsbury
of seventy four which joined him from Lisbon. His Squadron must therefore have consisted
of twenty four Ships of the Line. If he left the Panther and another at Gibralter
he must have gone out with twenty two.5

Whether he is gone with this whole Fleet to the West Indies, or only with part of
it, and with what part, is yet undetermined by the Public.

France and Spain however, have a vast Superiority still remaining, which, if it should
be ably managed, will easily humble the English: but if it should be unwisely managed,
or continue to be as unfortunate as it has been from the Moment of the Comte D'Estaing's
sailing from Toulon, will even in this Case last long enough to consume and exhaust
their Enemies.6

I have the Honor to inclose the Mercury of France of the eleventh of March, the Hague
Gazettes of the sixth and eighth, the Amsterdam Gazette of the seventh and the Leyden
of the seventh, and to be with the highest Consideration, Sir, your most obedient
and most humble Servant,

1. The remainder of this paragraph is a translation of the final paragraph of chap. 6
from Gabriel Bonnot, Abbé de Mably's Des principes des négociations, pour servir d'introduction au droit public de l'Europe,
fondé sur les traités, The Hague, 1767, a copy of which is in JA's library at the Boston Public Library (Catalogue of JA's Library).

2. This paragraph and the preceding two paragraphs were included almost verbatim in No. XI of “Letters from a Distinguished American,” [ante 14 – 22 July] (below).

3. This paragraph and the second sentence of the preceding paragraph are JA's translations of portions of a passage from Baron Jacob Friedrich von Bielfeld's
Institutions politiques, The Hague, 1740 (part 1, chap. 15, sect. 23), contained in Edmund Jenings' letter
of 1 March (Adams Papers). Although most of the preceding paragraph is not a direct translation from his work,
it is faithful to the substance of von Bielfeld's comments.

4. The events indicated by JA have all been mentioned in previous letters and dealt with in the annotation, but
the time span over which the almost uniformly favorable news reached England is worth
noting. The reports concerning the capture of Omoa and the repulse of Estaing at Savannah
reached London on 18 and 20 Dec. 1779, respectively, while the reports of Adm. Rodney's
departure from Gibraltar and Adm. Digby's capture of several French East Indiamen
appeared on 6 March (vol. 8:356, note 4; from Thomas Digges, 7 March, and note 2, above).

5. JA's account of the current composition and deployment of the British navy and the state
of Rodney's fleet, in this and the preceding paragraph, is generally accurate and
reflects newspaper reports in February and March.

6. In the Letterbook, this paragraph was written after the closing and marked for insertion
at this point. For the misfortunes that befell Estaing's fleet during its presence
in American waters during 1778 and 1779 and the resulting American disappointment,
see vols. 7 and 8.

Docno: ADMS-06-09-02-0024

Author: Adams, John

Recipient: Goësbriand, Chevalier de

Date: 1780-03-13

To the Chevalier Goësbriand

[dateline] Paris Hotel de Valois Rue de Richelieu 13th. March 1780

[salute] My dear Sir

I have recieved the Letter, which You did me the Honor to write me from Brest, the
twenty seventh of last Month;1 and am very sensible of your kind Remembrance of me.

The Zeal and Ambition, which You discover for the Service of your Country and her
Allies, is laudable; and altho' I have small pretensions to be capable of judging
of the Qualities and Abilities of a Marine Officer; yet I make no Scruple to assure
You, that according to all the Observations I made, in the two Voyages I had the pleasure
to make with You, and according to the best Judgment I have, You are very capable
of serving your Country in an higher Sphere than that respectable one, in which I
saw You.

Nothing gives me more pleasure than to find, that officers and other Gentlemen, who
have been to America, have been pleased with their Reception there, and I am much
obliged to You for your candid and indulgent Expressions of your Esteem for my Countrymen.

Your Request does not appear to me either unjust or ridiculous; but the Enemy have
made such Havock among the American Frigates in the Course of a long War, that We
have Numbers of Captains and other Officers, who have been long in Service, who are
now out of Employ. We have therefore no Frigate vacant.

Your present Rank and Command in the Marine, are very respectable and your Prospects
very good. You will have Opportunity to distinguish yourself by your Abilities, your
Zeal and Activity, in the Service of the King who will not fail to reward your Merit
in due Time. Remember me with Affection to your Brother Officers & believe me to be
with much Esteem & Respect, Sir, your most obedient & most humble Servt.

1. Chevalier de Goësbriand was the second in command of La Sensible (JA, Diary and Autobiography, 2:397). In his letter of 27 Feb. (Adams Papers), Goësbriand noted that his lack of seniority gave him little hope of obtaining the
command of a French naval vessel and requested that he be considered for the command
of a small frigate in the Continental Navy if one were available.

Docno: ADMS-06-09-02-0025

Author: Adams, John

Author: San, Ferdinando Raymon

Recipient: Digges, Thomas

Date: 1780-03-14

To Thomas Digges

[dateline] 14 March 80

[salute] Sir

I have this Moment received yours of 7th—that of the 3d is not come to hand. I had
received the Gaz. Ex. and Ad. Digby's Letter, which falls very short of what was feared,
for it was reported the whole Fleet was taken. There is Scarcely an Example of Such
a Series of fortunate Contingencies as that which had happened to Rodneys Fleet. But
as it has been simply, good Fortune, there may be an End of it now, and the Tide may
turn.

I can hardly believe that two such Expeditions of ships and Troops have gone from
N: York, as it is pretendd because I find it hard to believe that Ministry intend
to let the American War die away. Their Hearts have been too much fixed upon it. Yet
I know not how they can continue it. The Expence of continuing it, must be very great
and the Profit, of it, must be made by American Privateers. The Ministry and Nation
will have none of it. So long as they maintain an Army at N.Y. cutt off as they are
from all Communication with the Country and Supplying not only the Army and Navy,
but the Inhabitants with Provisions and necessaries of all sorts, by sea from Ireland
Quebec, Hallifax and the West India Islands, so long the American Privateers will
have fine Sport.

Pray, are the Resources of the Nation, really inexhaustible, and can they raise, twenty
Millions a Year, forever? One would think that Guineas grew upon Trees, like Cherries
or Gooseberries. Pray how fares the Fishery? Do they make a great Profit by it? The
Americans desire more Advantage by it, according to scarce Accounts than they used
to do. They took last summer about one half, as some say—full one third as all agree.
The N. foundland Fishery I mean. What is become of the Whale Fishery on the coast
of Brasil?1 Has the Spanish War broke it up? Or have the Vessells all gone to Greenland? Or have
the Men of War pressed all the Sailors?

How is the Fleet manned? Are there Men enough? Seamen enough? One would think that
Seamen grew with the Grass, or were manufactured like Pins or Buttons, there seems
to be Such inexhaustible Stores of them. If Guineas grow like currants in the Bushes,
and Seamen Spring up, with the Spices of Grass, Woe to France and Spain, Woe to America
too, but not Conquest to the latter.

The Groups of great Statesmen to whom the Nation are so deeply indebted, will have
the Honour with Posterity of riding a free Horse. { 43 } Generous he is, like Bucephalus2 however vicious he may be. A dying Elephant, throws himself headlong into the thickest
of the Foe and deals out death all around him. The Wounded Horse is always courageous,
rushes into danger and often does great Exploits. The Whale that is lanced to the
Vitals, sometimes drowns his enemy in Torrents of his own Blood, which he spurts with
a sublime fury. But the vital Blood is flowing away. The Elephant the Horse and the
Whale must soon expire, unless, he desists from the Warfare and stanches his Wounds.

1. For JA's interest in the British whale fishery, which was heavily dependent on American
whalemen, see vols. 6–8.

2. This was Alexander the Great's favorite horse, for which he named the city of Bucephala,
near Jhelum, Pakistan.

Docno: ADMS-06-09-02-0026

Author: Adams, John

Recipient: Digges, Thomas

Date: 1780-08-14

To Thomas Digges

[dateline] March 14. 1780

[salute] Sir

I had not till This afternoon, your Favour of the third of this month. I am greatly
obliged to you, sir for this and the other of the 7th. I may promise to be as faithfull
a Correspondent, as the particular Situation I am in, will permit: But you must be
very sensible, that I cannot be very exact in the Payment of Debts of this sort.

I really cannot devine the Principle, nor the Passion, nor the Humour upon which the
Exchange of the Prisoners is refused. After exchanging between the British Government
and American Authority in France after the numerous Exchanges between Boston and New
York, and Between Boston and Hallifax I should think, if they were uniform even in
their Whimsies, they could not refuse an Exchange between America and England. This
Method was adopted more for the Ease of British subjects than American Citizens, and
the rude Rejection of it, will hurt them more than Us.1

There are three French Frigates arrived, from Charlestown S.C. which sailed the 24
Jany. and left all quiet, not even expecting an Ennemy, which leaves 27 days for Clinton
to have proceeded from N. York, a Circumstance which increases the Probability, that
the fleet met with a storm. The french Men of War which were in Chesapeak Bay are
all Safe so that Cornwallis must have failed of that Part of his Enterprise, If he
ever had it in View.

I believe with you that the Committees of Correspondence in { 44 } England and Ireland must embarrass the Ministry: but will they be of any Use to Us,
if the Persons who take the lead in these Correspondences Associations and Congress,
should prevail and get into Power, will not their Aeconomical Projects rather injure
than serve our Cause, by enabling them to command more Money, and make greater Exertions.
But is there any common Principle of Union left in the Minds of the People which can
be made a Foundation of Union and bind them together, against both the Terms and the
Allurements of the Court? These Movements to be sure a very similar to those in America.

The Committee of Correspondence is purely an American Invention. It is an Invention
of Mr. Sam. Adams, who first conceived the Thought, made the first Motion in a Boston
Town Meeting, and was himself chosen the first Chairman of a Committee of Correspondence,
that ever existed among men.2 They do him Honour by adopting his Discovery, but I am afraid they will do Us all
Injury, by turning his Empire against Us.

If the Irish are as wise, as their first Efforts seem to indicate, they will take
Advantage of this Opportunity, to obtain compleat Liberty. They show plainly that
they understand what is necessary to this End and proceed towards it with a Caution
that will insure them success.

It is a vast Pleasure to hear that the great and amiable Characters you mention, are
clearly for American Independance. It is not all to be wondered that Minds, which
have comprehended the Truth of Things from the Beginning of this Controversy should
continue to see, in a just Light the Situation and the Interests of both Countries.
And nothing is more certain than that all those who are for Independance, on Provisoes,
will find themselves deceived and disappointed as egregiously as ever a Bernard, an
Hutchinson a Gage or an How, have done. Have those who talk of America's giving up
the Alliance, ever considered what they say? Would not these very Men despise her
if she did it, for doing it? Would not America, if there is any Ingenuity, Modesty,
Candour, Honour or Virtue of any other denomination in her forces despise herself
for so doing. Would not the Universe detest her, as well as despise her? Would she
not throw herself by such a Measure more absolutely into the Power of Great Britain,
than she ever would have been if she had submitted to the Claims of Parliament in
all Cases whatsoever. Surely Americans, have common sense, they are capable of some
Reflection, they have some Knowledge of their Interests, and they have some Sentiments
of what is right and fit.

Those who talk of federal Alliances, with America, do they mean against France and
Spain? Could England trust America, after violating her Virgin faith, with such shameless
Prostitution if she were to make such a League. England might think that France would
not trust her again, but England could not trust her more. I know not how such Ideas
strike other Minds but to me they seem the fruit of a total Dissolution of all Principles,
and all moral Sentiments and Feelings, and they suppose such a Dissolution in America,
but those who suppose it will find themselves mistaken, they will find that there
are Principles there which will be an Overmatch for Fire and Sword.

There are others who talk of constitutional Impossibilities of acknowledging American
Independance,3 a strange unmeaning Gibberish which they have inferred from Ld Chathams observation
that the Act of settlement had consecrated the Descent of the Crown, and its Authority
and Preogatives over all the dominions to the Heirs of the Princess Sophia of Hanover:
as if the Act of settlement was made to abolish all the Principles which produced
it, and upon which it was founded.

I should be very happy to take the London Courant: and will endeavour to accomplish
it. I have the Honour to be, with much Respect, sir, your most obedient servant,

1. Prisoner exchanges had occurred in April and July 1779, but no further exchanges took
place in Europe for a variety of reasons. The most important was the lack of any sizable
pool of English prisoners taken by American ships and imprisoned in France that could
be exchanged for Americans confined in England. By March 1780 this problem had been
exacerbated by the exchange of the prisoners taken by John Paul Jones from the Serapis in 1779 for French prisoners and the absolute refusal of the British government to
permit Americans held in England to be exchanged for British prisoners held in America.
Other obstacles to further exchanges were the anomalous position of the Americans
who were not technically prisoners of war; the reluctance of the British government
to negotiate with Benjamin Franklin for fear of giving even tacit recognition to the
United States; and the apparent desire of the British authorities to dash any hopes
that the American prisoners might have for exchange so as to encourage them to volunteer
for service in the British navy (Catherine M. Prelinger, “Benjamin Franklin and the
American Prisoners of War in England during the American Revolution,” WMQ, 3d ser., 32:261–294 [April 1975]; Benjamin Franklin to the president of Congress,
4 March 1780, Wharton, ed., Dipl. Corr. Amer. Rev. 3:534–537).

2. JA refers to Samuel Adams' motion at a Boston town meeting on 2 Nov. 1772. But the committee
of correspondence thereby created was not the first “that ever existed among men.”
Committees of correspondence had been used extensively in America before 1772, usually
during specific crises, such as that surrounding the Stamp Act of 1765–1766. Samuel
Adams' conception of the committee's purpose was unique. He saw it as the nucleus
for an opposition party and ultimately even the foundation for a new government. The
success of the movement in Massachusetts and the other colonies led JA to wonder about its English reincarnation. If committees of { 46 } correspondence enjoyed similar success there and led to a change in government, he
feared that the economic reforms advocated by those involved in the movement would
enable Britain to carry on the war more effectively since the merchants and gentry
objected less to the war in America than to its vast cost. Moreover, even a new government
willing to end the war in America might be unable or unwilling to back down from the
war with France and Spain. Then, since the United States was tied to France by treaty,
the conflict would continue (Boston Record Commissioners, Reports, 18:93; Richard D. Brown, Revolutionary Politics in Massachusetts, Cambridge, 1970, p. 46–48).

This is a summary of a document and does not contain a transcription. If it is available
elsewhere in this digital edition, a page number link will be provided below in the
paragraph beginning "Printed."

To the President of Congress, No. 18

This letter, which Congress received on 11 Sept., was based on intelligence provided
by Edmund Jenings and Thomas Digges in their letters of 5 and 7 March, respectively (both above). John Adams reported on the number of troops available
in England, Ireland, and Scotland; British naval movements; and the apparent intention
of the British ministry to dispatch no more troops to America. For information on
French intentions, Adams referred Congress to the Vicomte de Noailles, whom Adams
expected would carry the letter to America.

This is a summary of a document and does not contain a transcription. If it is available
elsewhere in this digital edition, a page number link will be provided below in the
paragraph beginning "Printed."

In this letter, read in Congress on 11 Sept. and based on information taken from Thomas
Digges' letters of 3 and 7 March (both above), John Adams reported on the troops sent with Lt. Gen. Sir Henry
Clinton to Charleston, naval operations, the progress of the county association and
volunteer movements in England and Ireland, and events in Parliament.

To Gabriel de Sartine

[dateline] Paris Hotel de Valois Ruë de Richelieu, March 14. 1780

[salute] Sir

I have just received from London, the Letters, Extracts of which are inclosed.1 They may possibly contain Some particulars, of Use to your Excellency. I beg your
Pardon, sir, for troubling you with Intelligence which you undoubtedly have Much sooner,
in greater detail, and with more Authority than mine. But in such Times as these,
great Effects are sometimes produced by, small particulars of Intelligence: for which
Reason, if your Excellency will permit it, I will take the { 47 } Liberty to send you from Time to Time, the best Intelligence I can collect. I have
the Honour to be with, the greatest Respect, your Excellencys most obedient & most
humble servant,

1. In his reply of 20 March (Adams Papers) thanking JA for the intelligence, Sartine referred to two extracts, probably from Thomas Digges'
letters of 3 and 7 March (both above).

Docno: ADMS-06-09-02-0030

Author: Gillon, Alexander

Recipient: Adams, John

Date: 1780-03-14

From Alexander Gillon

[dateline] Amstm 14 March 1780

[salute] Sir

I should have had the pleasure of answering your respectfull favour of 20th. past1 ere now had I not waited to have inform'd you what was doing here. The States are
still sitting and I have reason to believe will not adjourn soon, various are the
Reports of their proceedings but from what I am able to gather from there I can depend
on.2 The Grand business is done between the Northern Powers on A footing very convenient
to this Country as it must compel the English to quit interrupting the Trade of the
Neutral Powers.3 Was I sure this Letter wou'd meet no Eye but yours I could say much on this pleasing
subject but few Letters there are that pass into the direct chance without inspection.
I shall however seek a private safe hand to write you fully on some very interesting
matters that are now in Agitation and others that was put in Execution the 4 Instant.
It gives me great pleasure to be Assurd of your Countenance and Aid and that you differ
from Other Opinions on the propriety of any of the United States entering into such
separate engagements as I am authorisd to make, it is A priviledge I hope every state
will ever preserve pressure of enforcing their own Sovereignty. I thank you for your
Advice on the Ships in Question, shall follow it and shall take the Liberty of acquainting
you with the Result. I am with fervent wishes for your Wellfare Sir Your most Obdt.
& most hble Servt.,

2. The States General was debating its response to memorials presented by Sir Joseph
Yorke, the British ambassador, on 22 July and 26 Nov. 1779. In the memorials Britain
demanded that the Netherlands provide the 6,000 troops and 30 warships required under
the terms of the Anglo-Dutch alliance of 1678 and later treaties, and declared that
if the aid was refused Britain would treat the Netherlands as it did any neutral not
bound to it by treaty. The British demand, like those made earlier by France, required
a clear choice between belligerents, a choice the republic was unwilling and unable
to make. In fact, by March 1780 any possibility that the Dutch { 48 } would accede to the British demand had almost vanished because of the Royal Navy's
seizure of a Dutch convoy at the end of December. With the deliberations of the States
General seemingly promising nothing, Yorke presented a third memorial on 21 March
that gave the States General three weeks to reach a decision. The memorial had no
effect and on 17 April Britain declared that the provisions regarding wartime navigation
and commerce in various Anglo-Dutch treaties, particularly that of 1674, were suspended
(Charles Jenkinson, Collection of all the Treaties of Peace, Alliance, and Commerce, between Great-Britain
and other Powers, 3 vols., London, 1785, 1:214; Edler, Dutch Republic and the American Revolution, p. 134–135; see also Edmund Jenings to JA, 19 March, note 2, below). For texts of Yorke's three memorials, which were widely printed, see, for
example, John Almon's Remembrancer for 1779 (p. 167– 168) and 1780 (p. 333–334); and the London Chronicle of 29–31 July and 9–11 Dec. 1779, and 28–30 March 1780. For a general overview of
Anglo-Dutch relations in 1779 and early 1780, see C. W. F. Dumas to the Commissioners,
27 Jan. 1779, note 2 (vol. 7:384).

3. JA copied this sentence and included it in his letter of 18 March to the president of Congress (No. 20, calendared, below). Gillon is referring to
the diplomatic maneuverings that preceded Catherine II's declaration, on 10 March,
of the principles of armed neutrality. Not until 3 April was a Russian memorandum
calling on the Netherlands to join in a league of armed neutrals presented to the
States General (James Brown Scott, ed., The Armed Neutralities of 1780 and 1800, N.Y., 1918, p. 273–276; see also to the president of Congress, 10 April, No. 40, and notes there, below).

Docno: ADMS-06-09-02-0031

Author: Adams, John

Recipient: Lee, Arthur

Date: 1780-03-15

To Arthur Lee

[dateline] Paris March 15th. 1780

[salute] Dear Sir

Inclosed is a Letter from London: I have recieved another from Mr. Jennings, who says
he inclosed a Letter for you lately, but does not mention the Date, in one to the
House of Mr. Grand, and desires me to enquire there, for some things of his, particularly
some Maps which You left there.1 I have enquired of Mr. Grand and his Son Henry, but they know nothing of it.

There is Room to hope that Clinton's Army, destined to Charlestown, is defeated by
a Storm. One of the Vessels is got to St. Ives in Cornwall, with one hundred and fifty
or two hundred Yagers on Board. Charlestown has the Glory of defending herself twice,
with great Courage and Ability, and if the Skies have defended her a third Time, it
is to be hoped, She will not be again attempted. It would be hard indeed if Rodney
and Digby had all the good Luck. The Cards have run strangely against Us for sometime:
but Lord Sandwich's desire of having fifty Sail of the Line in the Channel, will I
hope turn the Tide against him in the West Indies and North America, and if it goes
against him there, it will not be much for him any where.

1. The letter from London has not been identified, but that from Jenings was of 8 March, to which JA had replied on the 12th (both above).

Docno: ADMS-06-09-02-0032

Author: Adams, John

Recipient: Lee, Richard Henry

Date: 1780-03-15

To Richard Henry Lee

[dateline] Paris Hotel de Valois Ruë de Richelieu March 15th. 1780

[salute] My Dear Sir

After my last Embarkation for Europe, Your Letter of October the eighth1 was brought me on Board the French Frigate the Sensible, just upon the point of sailing,
so that I had no Opportunity to answer it in America, and since my Arrival in Europe,
I have gone through a Land Journey from Ferrol in Spain to Paris little short of four
hundred Leagues, in the dead of Winter, in such Roads and such Accomodations, as almost
wore me out. I have scarcely recruited myself enough to recollect what I had to do.

I thank you, Sir, for your kind Congratulations, on my Return to my Family and Country,
both which I had the inexpressible Pleasure to find in perfect Health.

My Countrymen are so nice and so difficult to please, in the Choice of a Constitution
of government, that I cannot say how long it will be, before they will adopt one,
but of this I am very certain, that they have one at present which is very tolerable,
and that the Temper and Genius of that People will not endure a bad one.

You recommend to me to continue in public Life, but You practise the Reverse yourself.2 How is this? are not the same Obligations upon You that You think lie upon me?

You and I have had Experience enough of public Life, to be very well convinced, that
there are great Trials of our Patience, very little pleasure, and no Satisfaction
at all to be found in it. I was never very fond of public Life, myself, but on the
contrary, I avoided it with the utmost Care for many Years. But stepping into the
midst of civil Dissentions, when I first entered on the Stage of Life, it was impossible
for me to avoid having an Opinion of my own, and Principles like those of the Majority
of my Countrymen, these Principles I frankly professed at all Times and in all Circumstances,
however critical and dangerous, which involved me in an unavoidable Necessity, when
the Times grew more tempestuous, to step on board the Ship and take my Fortune with
the Crew. It is and will ever be the sweetest Reflection of my Life, that I did so.
But I have ever been thoroughly sensible of the Instability, of a public Career, and
I have ever endeavored to preserve my Mind prepared to return to my Rocks { 50 } and Forrests, with Tranquility, which I am perfectly sure at present, that I could
do, and with pleasure too. Yet I assure You I begin to fear that Habits will steal
upon me, by length of Time, which I shall find it hard to break, when the Time shall
come that I must retire. This time will certainly arrive with the first Moment that
I cannot serve the public with Honor and some prospect of Advantage and I have many
Reasons to suspect, that the Time is not very distant.

The Chevalier de la Luzerne, I have Reason to think from an agreeable Acquaintance
with him in the Course of a Passage to America of forty seven days, from some Knowledge
of him that I had before and after, is a candid and impartial Man, possessed of no
Principles or Views inconsistent with his public Character, and very able to do service
to his Country and ours. The same of Mr. Marbois. I lament most sincerely the unhappy
Contests that preceeded his Arrival and wish that they may be extinguished, but I
know too well the Circumstances to expect that they will.

As to my Negotiations, our Sons or Grandsons have a better Chance of completing them,
than I have. There is, or at least there was a System of Policy and of military Operations,
that if it had been pursued, might have given me something to do.3 It is not my fault, nor the fault of America that it was not.

The Fishery and the Navigation of the Missisippi are Points of such Importance, that
your Grandson, when he makes the Peace, I hope will secure them. I am sure, he will
omit nothing in his Power to do, for that purpose.

You will hear before You read this of a Series of good Fortune, which has happened
to Rodney and his Fleet. But the Allies will be superior by Sea in America and the
West Indies, so that We may hope, that the Tide will turn. England will remain without
Allies altho' Denmark has done a foolish Thing by restoring to the English some Prizes
sent into Norway by the Alliance. She seems to be sorry that She did it. It was upon
the Principle, that they had not acknowledged our Independence, and that all Powers
were their Enemies, with whom they had no Treaty, a Principle long since exploded,
and of which they are at present ashamed.4 Ireland and England are following our Example: and if France and Spain act with sufficient
Vigour in America and in the West Indies, all is ours, with an ordinary Success, otherwise
all will be aback. But We must persevere. The more Success Great Britain has, the
more Reason We have to dread her, and we ought to be more determined to hold out forever.

2. Lee had resigned as a delegate to Congress in May 1779 and did not serve again in
that capacity until 1784 (DAB).

3. Probably a reference to JA's long-standing plan for an increased French naval presence in American waters.

4. During the Bonhomme Richard expedition in 1779, the Alliance took the Betsy, Union, and Charming Polly. The prizes were sent to Bergen, Norway (then under Danish rule), where British pressure
caused Denmark to return the vessels. Benjamin Franklin protested this action in a
letter of 22 Dec. 1779 to the Danish foreign minister (PCC, No. 82, I, f. 211–217; Morison, John Paul Jones, p. 355– 356). In support of his position Franklin cited Emmerich de Vattel's The Law of Nations, or Principles of the Law of Nature, Applied to the Conduct and
Affairs of Nations and Sovereigns to the effect that the “ancients” had not acknowledged any obligation to nations
with whom they had no treaty, but that the progress of civilization had caused the
abandonment of that principle (bk. II, chap. 1, sect. 20).

Docno: ADMS-06-09-02-0033

Author: Gardoqui, Joseph & Sons (business)

Recipient: Adams, John

Date: 1780-03-15

From Joseph Gardoqui & Sons

[dateline] Bilbao 15th March 1780

[salute] Hond. Sir

We have in course been honour'd with your much esteemed 25th. Feby.1 and 1st Instant and are happy to hear of your safe arrivall at your place of residence
where most sincerely wish you all manner of success.

We expected 'ere now to have had the pleasure of giving you some agreable intelligence
from America, from whence we dayly expectt some arrivalls, but none has apear'd to
this day, however you may depend that whenever it does, will immidiatly comunicate
you, assur'd that we shall with great pleasure ship duplicates and triplicates of
the same sort goods sent per Babson and the next oportunities that shou'd offer, taking
proper care that the ships and Masters are such as may produce the desir'd effectt.

Give us leave to beg that you wou'd not mention the Commission any more, we are happy
whenever we can be of service to any private person of your States, so that you may
hereby infer our degree of satisfaction in rendering you any, so pray be free of comand.

We have postly advises from our brother at Madrid of Mr. Carmiachael's wellfare, and
of their being dayly companions, and by yesterday's letter we find they soon expectt
to see there his Excellency John Jay Esqr. whom they expect to meet at Aranjuez which
is 7. leagues beyond Madrid, so that whatever intelligence we can gett of his Excellency's
success, you may depend to be inform'd by those who { 52 } beg leave to return you many thanks for mentioning to said Minister. We hope with
you to see soon a solid and lasting treaty between your Constituents and this Kingdom
being our heartiest wish. It is with pleasure we hear of the strong armament preparing
at Brest, and if we have some further hints of their being bound to America, for which
parts an equal armament is preparing at Cadiz, and there is some Accounts that mention
that they are to be joyn'd, so that it must precisely produce some good effectt towards
you, however we shou'd be glad to hear that they are bound that way. You may rest
assur'd that no oportunity will be lost in comuniting your worthy Lady of your wellfare
and everything else that may tend to make her eassy in your absence.

In expectation of your further comands we beg leave to add our respectts to the Honble.
F. Dana Esqr. and the rest of the Gentlemen and subscrive with the greatest esteem,
Hond. Sir Your most obt. & obliged Servts.

From Arthur Lee

[dateline] L'Orient March 15th. 1780

[salute] Dear Sir

By the bursting of the Lock of one of my trunks on the journey, I was so unfortunate
as to lose the packet of M. Gerards Letters; among which was that you copied, and
of which I must beg you to send me an authenticated Copy.1

Since my arrival here, I receivd a Packet from Congress which came by the Confederacy.
In that is the Copy of one of the most false and wicked Papers I have read upon the
subject, given in to Congress by Mr. Carmichael. In that He says, “I have frequently
declard that Mr. A. Lee had not the confidence of the Court of France. My reasons
for this declaration are among others, the Chevalier Grand and his Brother Mr. Grand,
Gentlemen who at various times acted as secret Agents between the Commissioners and
the Court of France, in whose assertions I placd confidence because I saw that the
Court entrusted them with secrets of the highest importance, and because I never found
myself deceivd by these Gentlemen in any other information I had the honor to receive
from them while employd by the Commissioners abroad. I was informd and beleive that
this want of { 53 } confidence arose from information given by M. Garnier chargé des affairs for the Court
of Versailles at London.”2

You will oblige me much, if you will show this Extract to Mr. Grand and M. Garnier,
and write me what they say to it. I always entertaind and do still entertain too high
an opinion both of Mr. Grand's veracity and discretion to beleive he ever told Mr.
Carmichael what he here asserts. But I shall change my opinion if he refuses to contradict
this assertion, since it has been made with a manifest design of injuring me and imposing
upon Congress.

As Mr. C. coud not know that these Gentlemen were entrusted with Secrets of the highest
importance by the Court, unless they communicated those Secrets to him, I do not see
how any other conclusion can be drawn from what Mr. C. says of them, but that either
they were not so trusted or that they betrayd their trust in such communication to
him. I cannot determine whether Mr. Deane or Mr. Carmichael is the most contemptible
Liar. And I confess to you Sir, that it astonishes me that such contemptible and manifestly
malignant performances shoud have had the smallest influence on any one man of common
sense or common honesty in, or out of Congress.

We have no news here, nor is it likely we shall sail this month. I beg my comts. to
Mr. Dana.

[salute] With the greatest esteem, I am dear Sir yr most Obedt. Servt.,

1. This letter has not been identified, but was probably from Conrad Alexandre Gérard
to one or more of the American Commissioners (Benjamin Franklin, Silas Deane, and
Arthur Lee) in 1777 or early 1778. JA had made a copy of the letter and in his reply of 31 March (below) states that he made another. This indicates that the letter was probably
among the Commissioners' papers in Franklin's custody at Passy and may be one of the
Gérard letters in the Franklin Papers at the American Philosophical Society (Cal. Franklin Papers, A.P.S., 1:316, 358, 359; 4:227, 233, 245).

2. William Carmichael made his charge on 3 May 1779 in a written statement to Congress,
a copy of which was probably enclosed in James Lovell's letter to Lee of 6 Aug. (MH-H:Lee Papers; Wharton, ed., Dipl. Corr. Amer. Rev., 3:288–289). In providing this extract from Carmichael's statement, Lee changed it
from the third to the first person and altered the beginning of the second sentence,
which originally read: “His [Carmichael's] reasons for this declaration are among
others, that he was repeatedly told this by Messrs. De Beaumarchais, Ray de Chaumont,
the Chevalier Grand.” In the portion of the statement not transcribed, Carmichael
indicated that Lee's friendship with Lord Shelburne was the primary reason for the
lack of confidence.

In his reply of 31 March (below), JA refused Arthur Lee's request to approach Charles Jean Garnier and Ferdinand Grand.
Lee, however, wrote to Ralph Izard on 15 March, apparently making the same request
of him that he had made of JA. On 21 March Izard replied that he had approached Garnier who had denied { 54 } privately being the source for Carmichael's statement, but refused to make his denial
officially or in writing. Izard recommended that Lee write to Grand because his own
relationship with Grand was such that he had “nothing to say or do with him” (MH-H:Lee Papers). For the results of Lee's application to Grand, see his letter to JA of 12 April (below).

Docno: ADMS-06-09-02-0035

Author: Adams, John

Recipient: Lovell, James

Date: 1780-03-16

To James Lovell

[dateline] Paris Hotel de Valois Ruë de Richelieu March 16. 1780

[salute] Dear Sir

I have received, Since my Arrival here, your Favour of the Sixteenth of November 1779.
I shall take proper Notice of your Remarks upon the 19 and 13 Articles of the Treaty.1 They are, both of Importance and as to the last I wish for an Instruction upon it,
because there is no doubt to be made, that whenever a Serious Negotiation shall be
commenced, great Pains will be taken for the banished, altho little Attention is paid
to them now. I learned Yesterday that they have received no Payment of their Pensions
these 18 Months. The Delay is coloured with a Pretense of Waiting for Some funds for
Quebec, which have been Stopped by the Interruption of that Trade. They are Still
bitter, as I am told, and are firmly persuaded that America cannot hold out Six months
longer.

You assure me, that I shall not be without the orders and Credit, I mentioned in a
Letter of mine.2 I thank you for this assurance, which is conceived in such strong Terms, that one
would think you did not expect any opposition to it, at least any effectual opposition.
I wish there may not be: but I am not without Conjectures, I will not call them suspicions
upon this Head. Denying them, however would be, virtually recalling me and Mr. Dana,
and in a manner the most humiliating and disgracful. Indeed I dont know how We shall
get away from our Creditors. You know what Sort of Minds cannot bear a Brother near
the Throne, and So fair, So just, so oconomical a Method would not escape Minds of
so much Penetration, as a Refusal to lend Money without orders.3 I am not sure, however that the Measure would be hazarded, in the present Circumstances,
by Persons by whom I have been treated politely enough, Since my Return.

I should be glad to know what the Board of Treasury have done with my accounts? Whether
they have passed upon them? Or whether there are any Objections to them, and what
they may be. I dont know but I was indiscreet in Sending all my original Vouchers,
because if any of them should be lost I may be puzzled to explain Some Things. However
I know by a Letter from Gerry that they were received and I presume they will be preserved.4

I wish to know your private Opinion whether Congress will continue Mr. Dana and me
here, at so much Expence, with so little Prospect of having any Thing to do, for a
long time, an uncertain Time however: or whether they will revoke our Powers and recall
Us? Or what they will do with Us. A Situation so idle and inactive, is not agreable
to my Genius, yet I can submit to it, as well as any Man, if it is thought necessary
for the public Good. I will do all the Service I can, by transmitting Intelligence
and in every other Way.

You must have observed, that in all my public Letters, and indeed in a great Measure
in my private, I have cautiously avoided giving Accounts of the state of our Affairs,
in France.5 I had many Reasons for this Caution. In general, I was Sure it would do no good,
and I doubted the Propriety of Stating Facts, and remarking upon Characters, without
giving Notice of it to the Persons concerned, and transmitting the Evidence. There
is no End of conceiving Jealousies, but I am Sure Officers of Government, especially
foreign Ministers ought not to attack and accuse, one another upon Jealousies, nor
without full Proof, nor then neither without notifying the Party to answer for himself.

Thus much let me say, however that the Present Plan of having a distinct Minister
in Spain, another in Holland, and another to treat with Great Britain, and having
Secretaries independant of Ministers is a good one. I pray you to stand by it, with
the Utmost firmness if it should be attacked, or undermined. If you revoke the Powers
of a Seperate Minister to treat with the King of Great Britain, you ought to revoke
the former Powers of treating with all the Courts of Europe, which were given to the
Commissioners at Passy, for under these, Authority will be claimed, of treating with
the English if my Powers are revoked. The Powers of treating with all other Courts
ought to be Seperated from the Mission to this. Your Friend,

1. Vol. 8:289–290. JA, as Lovell had in his letter, is referring to Arts. 13 and 19 in the Franco-American
Treaty of Amity and Commerce as negotiated, rather than as ratified with Arts. 11
and 12 removed. Thus JA means Arts. 11 and 17. Lovell was concerned about the use of the Franco-American
treaty as a model for an Anglo-American commercial treaty. He feared that the inclusion
of Art. 11, dealing with the disposition of property in the respective countries,
would provide the loyalists with a means to regain their confiscated property. Art.
17 established the right of French and American vessels to bring prizes into each
other's ports. Its inclusion in an Anglo-American treaty would give Great Britain
a right that it was precluded from exercising in American ports under the terms of
the prior treaty with France, which took precedence over any later ones (Miller, ed., Treaties, 2:11–12, 16–17).

3. A reference to Benjamin Franklin, who never followed the course feared by JA. JA { 56 } had already raised the issue of compensation for himself and Dana in letters of 16 Dec. 1779 and 19 Feb. 1780 to Lovell, as well as in that of 17 Feb. to the president of Congress (vol. 8:297–299, 333–334, 330–331). For Congress' resolution
of the problem see the letter to the president of 17 Feb., note 1.

5. For more candid accounts that JA did not send, see his letters to Samuel Adams and Lovell of 4 March (both above).

Docno: ADMS-06-09-02-0036

Author: Adams, John

Recipient: Vernon, William Sr.

Date: 1780-03-16

To William Vernon Sr.

[dateline] Paris Hotel de Valois Ruë de Richelieu March 16th. 1780

[salute] Dear Sir

Since my Arrival, here, I have recieved yours of the 17th of December 1778, and 10th
of April 1779.1 The News of so many Captures made by our Navy would have been useful Intelligence,
if I had recieved it here in Season. I beg You however, to continue me your favors
in the same Kind; for there is no News more agreeable, or interesting than the Success
of your Board,2 and our Privateers. It is by You and them that the Foundation of our Navy must be
laid.

The beginning of February, as I passed through Bordeaux in my Way from Ferrol in Spain
to Paris, I had the pleasure to see your Son,3 in perfect health, and to find that he had pursued his Studies to such purpose as
to speak French very well; what proficiency he has made in other Branches of Knowledge
and Business, I had not an Opportunity to know, but as the Youth, who makes an handsome
progress in one thing seldom fails to do so in more, and in all the things that he
aims at, I doubt not he is proportionably advanced in Commerce. There are such Numbers
bound from hence to America, that You will have all the News, in detail. We have nothing
from America since Christmas.

In all probability America will have an easy Summer. The War will rage in the West
Indies, which I hope will give Scope both to Trade and Privateering.

[salute] I have the Honor to be with great Respect, Sir, your most obedient Servant,

To James Warren

[dateline] Paris Hotel de Valois Ruë de Richelieu March 16th. 1780

[salute] Dear Sir

Your Letter of the 13th. of June last,1 is not answered—not recieved 'till my Arrival here. You will be so overloaded with
News about the Time this will reach You, that I will not add to the Heap. We have
none from America a long Time—none since Christmas. You say I was envied—perhaps so:
but they would not have envied me in the Gulph Stream, nor when chased forty eight
Hours by three British Frigates, nor when Sailing in a Ship, leaking seven Feet of
Water in an Hour, in a Gale of Wind that blowed the poor Courier de L'Europe, our
fellow Voyager, to the Bottom with all her People, nor when devoured by Vermin in
Company with Mules, Hogs, and Poultry, on the Mountains of Gallicia. They would not
envy Mr. Jay in the dismasted Confederacy &c. They would not envy Us here, at least
they ought not, for it is not an enviable Situation: to see things go wrong for want
of adopting the simplest and most obvious plans in the World. However, I have seen
enough of Envy to know, that it will have its perfect Work. Let it. It is a Distemper,
that I hope will never seize me. I had rather of the two have another, which is sometimes
they say contracted here by an Acquaintance with the elegant Nymphs of the Boulevards.
But enough of this.

The People of England have done me the Honor to talk lately a great deal about me.
They have pleased themselves with the Tales that the Ministry propagated, that I was
coming to London. Lord North said he wished I had come in the Cartel Ship. I believe
him. But they have no Thoughts of Peace upon my Terms, ie. upon American Terms. Ireland
however will make herself independent before ours will be acknowledged: and England
will have a Congress very soon. Ireland and England have learned our Policy, and are
treading in our Steps. Holland is very angry, and will not always bear. Yet England
cannot learn Wisdom. She will fall like the strong Man. I should be very glad She
would come to her Reason: but She will not a long time.

From William Lee

[dateline] Bruxelles March 17. 1780

[salute] Dr. Sir

I understand the our Enemies have now in contemplation, the offering of some terms
to America, which go no farther than a Truce; probably, somewhat similar to the propositions
made last year by Spain to Great Britain.1

Tho' I am not inform'd of the terms of Peace with which you are charged, nor whether
your powers are discretionary, I trust you will not think it an intrusion in me to
offer my sentiments on such a proposition as a Truce for America, supposing it shou'd
be made.

A Truce with America, must of course accompany a Peace in Europe, in that case our
Enemies, after recovering from their present exhausted state, having their hands clear
of European troubles wou'd have their whole strength to employ against America; for
I conceive, that with such a prospect before them, there wou'd not be the most distant
probability of agreeing on a Peace before the expiration of the Truce.

In America we must keep up a great Military and Naval establishment, to prevent our
being taken by surprize, at nearly as great an expence, as we are now at in War, and
besides risk the dreadful misfortunes which have almost universally attended standing
Armies and a heavy load of debt on the State. I can't suppose it possible that France
and Spain wou'd consent to a Truce with America while the War is to continue between
G. Britain and them; but if they shou'd, wou'd it be wise in America to accept of
a Truce on such terms, and to let our Allies run the hazard of being destroyed, that
we may become an easy prey afterwards?

These are some of the evident objections to a truce in any shape, nor can I see one
possible argument in its favor tho' I know there are some Americans, tho' well intention'd,
but visionary genius's, whose heads, run much on the Idea of a Truce; but I hope nothing
will be attended to, unless they are fair, open and honorable propositions for a substantial
and lasting Peace, in which blessed Work, I most heartily wish you speedy and full
success.

The Dutch are in a very disturbed State—as yet there does not seem to be a probability
of their taking a decided and open part with us in the War. The influence and power
of the Prince of Orange is unfortunately too great to permit them to adopt those measures
which their Honor and interest direct, and which I beleive, a great majority { 59 } of the People wish. The Prince is retain'd against us by the flattering prospect of
Marrying his Daughter to the Prince of Wales;2 but in Europe where every thing is bo't and sold, France and Spain may do great things,
for the confident and director of the Prince,3 is as mercenary a wretch, as can be found in England or even in Scotland.

We shall probably see Mr. Laurens here in his way to Holland, but if he does not pass
thro' this Town I shall be much obliged to you for giving me any interesting public
Intelligence that he brings.

Be pleased to present my respects to Mr. Dana and if I can be of any service here
in promoting the great work you have in hand, or in rendering any services to our
Country, I shall be always happy in receiving your commands, being with great esteam
Dear Sir, Your most Obliged & Obedt. Hble Servt.

1. In its ultimatum to Great Britain in April 1779, at the climax of its abortive mediation
effort, Spain proposed a long truce between Britain and its colonies during negotiations,
based on the principle of uti possedetis: that is, with the armies left in place. In the months following the failure of the
Spanish effort, Russia and Austria each offered to mediate, and it could be assumed
that a truce based on uti possedetis would be part of the mediation. JA's instructions, however, empowered him to agree to a truce only during negotiations
that were preconditioned by the recognition of the United States and the withdrawal
of British forces (Bemis, Diplomacy of the Amer. Revolution, p. 172–180). Given his instructions, it is unlikely that JA could have agreed to any truce in the form likely to be proposed, but he did request
that Congress consider the matter and send him new instructions if it wished (to the
president of Congress, No. 23, 23 March, below).

To Samuel Adams

This will be sent or delivered by the Viscount de Noailles, a Son of the Duke D'Ayen
a Brother of the Lady of the Marquis de la Fayette, an amiable and gallant young Nobleman
as full of military Ardour as the Marquis.2

We have this Moment the News of the safe Arrival, of a Convoy and sixty Sail of Merchant
ships of St. Domingo, which is a great Event, for this Country, and for Ours.3

It is also reported that Ten Spanish Ships of the Line, with Ten Battallions of Land
Forces have sailed, conjectured to be for N. America.

An Armament is preparing at Brest, of which I ought not to give { 60 } any other Account than one taken from the Amsterdam Gazette of 14 March: it is this.4 The Comte du Chaffaut de Besné, Lieutenant General of the naval Armies, has had the
Honnour to take Leave of the King at Versailles, on Wednesday last, being presented
to his Majesty by Mr. De Sartine, Secretary of State.

The Report runs that orders have been expedited on the 29 of Feb. for the Officers
who are here of all the Regiments which are upon the Coasts to join their Regiments
by the 15 of March and that Eight Regiments of Infantry are to embark under the Command
of the Comte de Rochambeau. These Regiments are that of Anhalt, whereof the Marquis of Bergen is Colonel in second: Auvergne, Coll Commandant, the Viscount de Laval, and in second the Comte de Lameth; Bourbonnois, Colonel Commandant, Le Marquis de Laval, and in second the Viscount de Rochambeau;
Neustrie, Colonel Commandant le Comte de Guibert, and in second the Viscount le Veneur; Rouergue, Colonel Commandant the Viscount des Custine, and in second, the Marquis de Ludie;
Royal Corse Colonel Commandant the Marquis du Luc and in second the Count de Pontever; Royal-Deux-Ponts, Colonel Commandant the Comte de Deux-Ponts; Saintonge, Colonel Commandant the Viscount de Beranger, and in second the Marquis de Themines.
It is asserted, that there will be added a Detachment of Artillery, and that the Baron
de Viomenil the Comte de Chattelux and the Comte de Witgenstein, will embark with
these Troupes, and they say that the Duke de Lauzun will have the Command of a Body
of Twelve hundred Volunteers, and that he will be joined to the Armament under the
Command of the Comte de Rochambeau. All these Troupes, as it is believed, will embark
at Brest, and will go out, under the Convoy of the Comte du Chaffaut de Besné. They
Add that he will have, more than Thirty Seven ships of the Line, under his Command,
destined for an Expedition, whereof the genuine Object is yet unknown. Many other
Regiments have also orders, to march down nearer to those upon the Sea coast, and
there are many Vessells taken up, upon Freight, for the Service of the King, in different
Ports of the Kingdom. The Freight at Havre is 30 Livres a Ton, on Condition that the
owner furnish his Vessell for 12 Months. They say that the Prince de Condé will go
and command upon the Coast of Britany, with the Comte de Vaux.

These Rumours, presage well, and indicate that the Courts of France And Spain begin
to see, that their true Policy lies in transferring their Exertions across the Atlantick,
where they will have great Advantage and make Business brisk, and give fair Play to
our Priva• { 61 } teers. I hope every Body will exert themselves in Privateering. This is our Part of
the War.

But I suppose General Washington in the Course of Things will be calld to cooperate,
and he will no doubt be supported and enabled.

1. For a second letter of this date to Samuel Adams (LbC, Adams Papers), see JA to James Warren, 18 March, note 1 (below).

2. Louis Marie, Vicomte de Noailles, was the son of Philippe de Noailles, Duc de Mouchy.
He married Louise de Noailles, sister of cousin Adrienne de Noailles, Lafayette's
wife. In 1780 he was second in command of the Soissonnais regiment and sailed with
Rochambeau's army in May (Lafayette in the Age of the American Revolution, ed. Stanley J. Idzerda and others, 5 vols., Ithaca, N.Y., 1977– 1983, 1:xliv–xlv).

3. This and the following three paragraphs were included, almost verbatim, in JA's letter of 18 March to the president of Congress (No. 20, calendared, below).

4. The account of the expeditionary force under Rochambeau assembling at Brest is a mixture
of fact and rumor, reflecting more closely the force as originally intended than as
actually sent. The convoy carrying the army sailed in May, escorted by 7 ships of
the line, 2 frigates, and 2 smaller warships, rather than 37 ships of the line. The
naval force was commanded by the Chevalier de Ternay, rather than Louis-Charles, Comte
du Chaffault de Besné, whose career had been effectively ended by wounds at the battle
off Ushant in 1778. Rochambeau intended to embark an army of 8,000 men, but a shortage
of shipping forced its division into two sections, only the first of which went to
America. The army that sailed for America thus totaled approximately 5,500 men: 500
from the Duc de Lauzun's private legion and the remainder from the Soissonais, Bourbonnais,
Saintonge, and Royal-Deux-Ponts regiments (two battalions from each). Baron de Viomenil
and Chevalier de Chastellux went to America as maréchals de camp, the former serving as Rochambeau's second in command. The Anhalt and Neustrie regiments
and the remainder of Lauzun's force remained at Brest as part of the second section
under the command of Comte de Wittgenstein (Dull, French Navy and Amer. Independence, p. 190–191; Hoefer, Nouv. biog. générale; Doniol, Histoire, 5:331–333). There is no evidence that the Auvergne, Royal Corse, or Rouergue regiments
were intended for service under Rochambeau.

Docno: ADMS-06-09-02-0040

Author: Adams, John

Recipient: Gates, Horatio

Date: 1780-03-18

To Horatio Gates

[dateline] Paris March 18 1780

[salute] Dear sir

The Marquis de la Fayettes Brother, the Viscount de Noailles tells me, he should be
glad to take Letters to America, and I dont know to whom I can give him a Letter with
more Propriety than to the General of Saratoga.

I should be proud to return any Civilities you may shew him to any of your Friends,
who may travell to Paris.

I want very much to know, what Scope the Ennemy have from New York, what supplies
of Provisions, &c. they do and can derive from New Jersey, New York or Connecticutt.
If you can find Leisure, to inform me you will much oblige, sir your Friend and humble
sert.

I want too the best Plan for attacking New York, how many ships and how many Troops,
and what Number of Land forces you can depend upon having from the united states.
I hope N.Y. will be ours in the Course of this Campain: but if it should not I should
be glad to have these Things to contemplate upon next Winter.1

1. The letter to Gates is one of eight letters written on 18 March to past or current
general officers of the Continental Army in which JA requested intelligence on the progress of the war. The others were to Nathanael Greene
(below), Alexander McDougall (NSchU: McDougall Papers), Johann Kalb, Henry Knox, Samuel Holden Parsons, Friedrich Wilhelm
von Steuben, and John Sullivan (all LbC's, Adams Papers). The letters to Greene, McDougall, Knox, Parsons, and Sullivan also served as letters
of introduction for Vicomte de Noailles, while in those to Kalb and von Steuben, as
he did in this letter to Gates, JA specifically requested information regarding an attack on New York.

Docno: ADMS-06-09-02-0041

Author: Adams, John

Recipient: Greene, Nathanael

Date: 1780-03-18

To Nathanael Greene

[dateline] Paris March 18th. 1780

[salute] Dear Sir

Give me Leave, by the Opportunity of the Viscount de Noailles, to take this Method
of reviving a Correspondence, which has been interupted almost three Years, but was
one of the most pleasing I ever had.1

It is unnecessary to say any thing of the Expedition with which this Letter is intended
to go, because I hope it will reveal itself to You, in Accounts which will make themselves
heard and understood by all the World.

As there is a probability, that there will be more frequent Communication, with America
this Summer, than there ever has been, let me beg the favor of your Sentiments both
upon Subjects of Policy and War.

Every Operation of your Army has its Influence upon all the Powers of Europe in France,
Spain, England, Ireland, Holland, Sweeden, Denmark, Russia, Prussia, Portugal, and
even in the German Empire.

America is the City, set upon a Hill,2 I do not think myself guilty of Exaggeration, Vanity or Presumption, when I say,
that the proceedings of Congress are more attended to, than those of any Court in
Europe, and the Motions of our Armies than any of theirs. And there are more political
Lies made and circulated about both, than all the rest: which renders genuine Intelligence,
from good Authority, the more interesting and important.

There is a great Variety of Policy on foot, in England, Ireland, Holland, and among
the Northern Powers, all tending to favor the Cause of America, which is promoted
by nothing more than by prompt and accurate Intelligence.

1. The last known letter from JA to Nathanael Greene is of 7 July 1777 and, since that letter may not have been sent, the last letter known to have been
received by Greene is of 2 June 1777 (vol. 5:213–214, 238–241). Greene's last known letter to JA is of 28 May 1777 (vol. 5:206–208). For a possible explanation of the long gap in the correspondence,
see the annotation to JA's letter of 7 July 1777. This letter did not lead to an immediate resumption of the correspondence, for Greene
did not reply until 28 Jan. 1782 (Dft, DLC: Greene Papers).

This is a summary of a document and does not contain a transcription. If it is available
elsewhere in this digital edition, a page number link will be provided below in the
paragraph beginning "Printed."

To the President of Congress, No. 20

The first two-thirds of the letter, which was read in Congress on 22 July, was taken
from the Gazette d'Amsterdam and included almost verbatim in John Adams' letter to Samuel Adams of this date (above).
The remainder of the letter was based on Alexander Gillon's letter of 14 March (above) and a report in the Mercure de France and concerned the advent of the League of Armed Neutrality and the policies of the
Netherlands and Sweden.

To James Warren

[dateline] Paris March 18 1780

[salute] Dear sir

Monsieur Jean Baptiste Petry Secretary to the Comte de Chatelet, a Marshall of the
Camps and Armies of the King of France, is, as he says, going to America, and as he
is connected with some Gentlemen to whom I am much obliged, I cannot but comply with
his Desire, and give him a few Letters of Introduction. He is represented to be a
worthy, sensible and agreable Man.1

The Marquis de la Fayette sailed about 10 March from Rochelle, and will be in Boston
as We hope by the 10th. of April. He will explain to Congress and to General Washington,
what I cannot explain to you. The Bearer will give you further Commentaries. This
Court will by little and little be convinced of the true system, after which I hope
they will be less unfortunate. In all human probability they must be, if they do not
neglect it too long.

Rodneys Fleet seems to have been the favourite of Fortune, but { 64 } you know she is a great Changeling, and frowns upon one, sometimes in half an Hour
after having lavished upon him her Smiles and Favours. We are anxious to know the
Fate of Charlestown, which we hope was saved by a Storm.

Faucitte2 vapours in a Leiden Gazette that he has obtained 40,000 Men of the Langrave of Hesse.
This Soul selling Langrave, as they call him in Germany, has hardly 40,000 men in
his Dominions. This is the Fruit of the Cracovie. Now I must write more or you won't
understand me. Craquer, Signifies, in a kind of familiar cant Style, to lie, and Craqueur
is a Lyar. There is a Tree, in the grand Alley of the Palais Royal at Paris, which
they call the Tree of Cracovie, from the Name of a City in Poland and its Similitude
to the word Craque. L'Arbre de Cracovie. The News Mongers of Paris assemble commonly
under this Tree. So that it is become proverbial to call false News, Les Nouvelles
de L'Arbre de Cracovie. News from the Tree of Cracovie.3 I have spent a Multitude of Words in Explanation of this Trifle, which does not deserve
them.

Pray introduce, Mr. Petry to Madame Warren the most accomplished Lady in America,
next to one whom I will not mention, but whose Preogative of being the first I can
never give up.

1. For Petry, who probably did not go to America at this time, see Adams Family Correspondence, 4:13, 17–18. On this date, counting this letter to James Warren and another to AA (Adams Papers), JA wrote nine nearly identical letters of introduction for Petry to friends in Boston
and Philadelphia. The others were to Samuel Adams, James Bowdoin, Samuel Cooper, Elbridge
Gerry, Samuel Huntington, Benjamin Rush (all LbC's, Adams Papers), and William Tudor (MHi: Tudor Papers).

2. Maj. Gen. Sir William Fawcett had been sent to Germany in 1775 on a special mission
to obtain troops from the various German princes and, in the case of Hesse-Cassel,
continued in that role until 1781 (DNB; Repertorium der diplomatischen Vertreter aller Länder, 3:156, 157, 164, 181). For agreements concluded by Fawcett, see Edmund Jenings to
JA, 18 March, note 7 (below). Ultimately, through the efforts of Fawcett and others, 29,166 German troops
went to America (Mackesy, War for America, p. 62).

3. JA's letter to Benjamin Rush (see note 1) was written in French and contained this passage
regarding the “Tree of Cracovie.” That letter also informed Rush of the death of his
friend Jacques Barbeau Dubourg.

Docno: ADMS-06-09-02-0044

Author: Jenings, Edmund

Recipient: Adams, John

Date: 1780-03-18

From Edmund Jenings

[dateline] Brussels March 18, 1780

[salute] Dear Sir

I Have the Honor of having receivd your Favor of the 12th Instant, which flatters
me much in informing me of your Approbation of my { 65 } Letters of the first the fifth and the Eigth. I beg the Continuance of your Partiallity,
and that You woud Command me in all things.

I now set down to Answer your Enquiry into the “Sums paid Annually, as Subsidies by
France or England to the House of Austria or the King of Prussia or other Powers in
former Wars?”

Offensive and defensive Treaties enterd into between the great European Princes are
Seldom carried into Execution by Subsidies. I shoud think therefore, that neither
Austria, France Spain or England have ever been subsidizd, or if any of them have
been, it has been stipulatd by secret Articles, which have never transpird. Their
Power in Men and Money sets them nearly on an Equallity, and had always made them
principals in the War they have engagd in together, and as principals, they have generally
agreed on a certain reciprocal assistance according to their Abilities of Men and
Money, and indeed of the Whole force of their States, as the Occasion may have demanded.
There coud not be any Subsidy between France and the Emperor, for as they have been
long Rivals, until the last War, they was never any Connection between them. Spain
indeed might furnish France with Money, which their Common Interest requird: but I
Know not, that she did. With Respect to GB and these grand Powers, I do not find there
is any thing of a Subsisting or has been any subsidiary Treaty properly so calld.

There was no Subsidy stipulatd in the Treaty of Alliance, calld the grand Alliance,
between the Emperor the King of GB and the States General in 1689, or in that between
GB and the States General in the same year; None in the first partition Treaty in
1698, none in the Alliance between King William 3d Charles 12th and the States General,
in 1700. None in the second Partition Treaty in the same year, and none in the second
grand Alliance in 1701.1

In 1701, a Treaty of Alliance was enterd into between the King of GB and the States
General with the King of Denmark, in which, it was stipulatd, that the King of GB
and the States shoud pay the full sums, which was stipulatd to be paid by a Treaty
of Alliance which had been enterd into in the Year 1696, one half at the March of
the Troops, consisting of 3000 Horses 1000 Dragoons and 8000 foot and another within
6 Months after. I Know not the amount of this Sum, but they were to pay 300000 Crowns
Subsidy every year the war Continud, if, the war did not take place and the Troops
be on their March, the Charge of raising these Troops was to be paid as follows, 80
Crowns for every Trooper, 60 for every dragoon and 30 Crowns for { 66 } every foot Soldier. Half of the Money to be paid on their March, and the other on
their Arrival at the place of Action.

In the Treaty of Alliance 1703 between the Emperor Queen Anne and the States General
and the King of Poland,2 the Latter was to raise 23000 foot and 5000 horse 11000 of the foot And 2000 of the
horse was to be Armd by the other Confederates, for the Expence of these 13000 Men,
they were to give a Milion of Petacoons3 (of which I Know not the Value) over and above they were to pay 500000 petacoons
for Accountring [accoutering] the Army.

In 1717, in a Treaty of Alliance between the Kings of France and GB and the United
Provinces for the Maintenance of the Treaty of Utrecht, it was agreed, that the two
Kings shoud furnish 8000 foot and 2000 Horse and the States General 4000 foot and
1000 horse in Case either of the Allies shoud be attacked; but if money was preferd
that the foot should be valued at 10000 Livres per Month for Each 1000 Men, and 1000
horse at 30000 Livres per Month.

By the Quadruple Alliance 1718, wherein the Emperor the King of GB and the King of
France agreed to furnish 8000 foot and 4000 Horse, and the States general 4000 foot
and 2000 Horse, if either Party was Attackd, it was stipulatd, that if the Money was
chosen by such Party, 1000 foot shoud be valued at 10000 florins of Holland per Month,
and 1000 Horse at 30000 florins.

In the treaty of Alliance, enterd into in the Year 1725, between the King of GB the
King of France and the King of Prussia, the two first Kings stipulate to furnish 8000
foot and 2000 horse Each,4 and the King of Prussia 3000 foot and 2000 horse, and in Case Money was preferd,
the 1000 foot was to be valued at 10000 Dutch Guilders by the Month, and 1000 horse
at 30000 Guilders of the same money by the Month.

In the Treaty of Alliance, between GB, France and Denmark5 the Latter Prince agreed to Keep on foot 24000 Men, officers, Equipages and Artillery,
together with another Body of 6000 Men to reinforce the former if necessary, for this
the King of France Agreed to pay to Denmark 350000 rix dollars,6 current Money of Denmark, the same to be paid by way of Advance.

In 1742, a definitive Treaty was enterd into between his Britannic and her Imperial
Majesty of Russia. It was Agreed, that her Imperial Majesty shoud send in Case of
an Attack on GB 10000 Infantry, and 2000 Calvalry, and that GB shoud furnish Russia
with 12 Ships of the Line carrying 700 Guns and 4560 Men, according to a list, given
in, { 67 } of Each Ship, and in Case Money was rather Chosen, the Sum of 500000 Roubles a Year
was to be paid to the respective Power Attacked demanding it.

This treaty was confirmd by another 1755, wherein it was stipulatd, that Russia shoud
keep in readiness on her Frontiers 55000 Men, of which 40000 was to be Infantry and
15000 Cavalry and likewise 40 or 50 Gallies, in Consideration of which, the King of
GB engaged to pay to the Empress 500000 Sterling per Ann.

In 1755 a treaty was enterd into also between the King of GB and the Landgrave of
Hesse Cassel, in which, the Latter agreed to hold for the Service of GB 6600 foot
and 1400 Horse, with necessary Artillery. The foot was to be paid for at the rate
of 30 Crowns per Man, and the Horse at 80 Crowns: besides this a Subsidy of 150000
Crowns was to be paid per Ann., until the said Troops should March, and then the Subsidy
was to be augmentd to 300000 Crowns per Ann, the King of GB to pay for the recruiting
the Men and for the loss of Cannon. The Prince of Hesse likewise agreed to Augment
this body of 8000, if necessary, to 12000 with proper Cannon, and for this 12000 Men
450000 were to be paid Annually so long as they were at the Charge of the Prince,
and 225000 when they were at the Charge of the King of GB.

Beside these foregoing treaties with Russia and Hesse, there was one at the End of
the war of 1741, by virtue of which, Russia marchd into the Empire and produced the
Treaty of Aix le Chapelle and on which this of 1755 seems to have been formed, and
there is one now existing with Hesse for troops to go to America. I have not got a
Copy thereof, but it is likely to be found in the Annual Register,7 together with the treaties with the Princes of Brunswic, Anholt and Anspach for the
like Infamous purposes they are of a most Extravagant Nature.

There are more Subsidiary Treaties, the preceding Ones are not strictly so, but pertake
much of this Nature, but what shall we say of the Treaty enterd into with the King
of Prussia,8 whereby GB agreed to pay at one time and that immediatly, 670000 Pounds to Prussia,
to be disposed of as He pleased for the Common Cause. This is the Shortest, the Simplest
and most succesful Subsidiary Treaty ever made, it was a Sum nobly given, and wisely
and bravely disposed of; and was necessary and by no dishonable or the King of Prussia
to receive, for tho, He is a great Prince in himself the Powers of his States are
weak.

France has generally Subsidized Sweden and many of the Ecclesi• { 68 } astical and Temperal Princes on the Rhine, the Terms of which may be seen in the collection
of Treaties9 where may be found too her perpetuate Alliance, founded on Subsidies with the Swiss
Cantons.

I Know not, Sir, whether the foregoing short Abstract will give you any Satisfaction,
be pleasd to mention your future doubt, and I will make a stricter Enquiry.

I am affraid the Enemy has stil unmeritd Success, a Gentleman, who left London last
Monday, says, that it was reportd that great News had arrivd, but whether from the
Continent or the Islands, He could not tell, but that He heard the Tower Guns firing,
and a German Colonel in the french Service has receivd a Letter, which He woud not
mention the Contents of but said it was a severe blow on the french. Be so good as
to let me hear from you on this Subject, and indeed whatever public News may come
to your Knowledge, whether good or bad, that I may, by the Truth, Check the numberless
idle and designing Reports of this Town.

I am obliged to You for enquiring at Mr Grands for the Maps and my nephews Things,
but Mr Lee has since informd me, that He left them with the Mistress of the Hotel
de Vendome dans le Rue des petits Augustras where He Lodged, who will deliver them,
when calld for. Give me leave to beg the Favor of You to send for them.

David Hartley is to make a Motion this week relative to America, the purport of which
may be guessed at by Sir G Savilles Saying He wished He might be Able to inform his
Constituents when he went into the Country, that matters were accomodatd with America.10 I long to hear how the Motion was receivd.

I have heard in a round about way that Mr Js. reception is in a good Train.

1. The information regarding these and other treaties mentioned in this letter was likely
taken from John Almon's A Collection of all the Treaties of Peace, Alliance and Commerce between Great Britain
and Other Powers, 2 vols., London, 1772, which Jenings indicated, in his letter of 6 [April] (below), was in his possession. The work is also in JA's library at the Boston Public Library (Catalogue of JA's Library).

2. The treaty was with King of Portugal Peter II (Almon, Collection, 1:51–61).

3. Patacoon is the anglicized form of pataca, patagon, or patacao, the Portuguese dollar
(Webster, 2d ed.; OED).

4. In the treaty this is given as 8,000 foot and 4,000 horse (Almon, Collection, 1:378).

7. Instead of the Annual Register, Jenings may mean the Parliamentary Register. The Annual Register for 1776 does give an account of the debates attending the placing of the German
treaties before Parliament on 29 Feb. { 69 } 1776, but does not include the texts of the treaties. Volume 3 of John Almon's Parliamentary Register, 17 vols., London, 1774–1780, however, provides translations of the treaties signed
with the Duke of Brunswick at Brunswick on 9 Jan. 1776, the Landgrave of Hesse-Cassel
at Cassel on 15 Jan. 1776, the Prince of Hesse-Cassel at Hannau on 5 Feb. 1776, and
the Prince of Waldeck at Arolsen on 20 April 1776 (3:287–310, 504–508). Later volumes
include the convention signed with the Landgrave of Hesse-Cassel on 11 Dec. 1776 to
augment the forces provided by him, the treaty with the Margrave of Brandenburgh-Anspach
signed at Anspach on 1 Feb. 1777, and the convention with the Prince of Hesse of 10
Feb. to augment his forces (6:152–156; 7:44– 53). In each case the agreement was signed,
on behalf of Great Britain, by William Fawcett (see JA to James Warren, 18 March, and note 2, above).

10. These statements were made during a debate in the House of Commons on 7 March, an
account of which Jenings had probably seen in an English newspaper. According to the
London Chronicle of 7– 9 March, Hartley planned “on Thursday next to call upon the Ministry for a
full explanation of what they meant by the war.” Sir George Saville reportedly declared
that “he wished he could tell his constituents at the next recess, that he had brought
them home one great saving in consequence of their Petitions, the saving of the American
war.” There is no indication that Hartley carried through on his promise on the day
indicated, but he did offer three resolutions on the war in America on 11 May. For
their content, see Thomas Digges' letter of 2 May, note 7 (below). JA included Jenings' report in his letter of 23 March to the president of Congress (No. 23, below).

Docno: ADMS-06-09-02-0045

Author: Adams, John

Author: San, F. R.

Recipient: Digges, Thomas

Date: 1780-03-19

To Thomas Digges

[dateline] March 19th. 1780

[salute] Dear Sir

The Convoy, with sixty Sail of Merchantmen from St. Domingo, is arrived safe, which
shows that Rodney's good Fortune is not to comprehend all things, and gives great
Spirits in this Country.

Pray what foundation do You find for the Report of a Quintuple Alliance, between Sweeden,
Denmark, Russia, Prussia and the United Provinces for the reciprocal Protection of
their Flags from Insults?

What do You find to be the true Cause why the Court of Denmark ordered American Prizes
that were carried into Norway to be restored? Simple Hebetude! or Affection for the
English? or fear of them? or what?

Is there any Truth in the Report that the Sweedish Ambassador demanded Restitution
of the Sweedish Vessels with Indemnification for Losses, upon pain of taking Leave?

Am more curious and inquisitive about every thing that passes in England than usual.
The Ministry seem driven to great Extremities—thwarted in the East India Company,
and pressed in Parliament to a degree, that must ruin them to all Appearance.

[salute] With Regard,

[signed] F. R. San

LbC in John Thaxter's hand (Adams Papers.) In the Letterbook, the recipient of this letter is not given, but the signature
indicates that it was to Thomas Digges.

Docno: ADMS-06-09-02-0046

Author: Adams, John

Recipient: Gerry, Elbridge

Date: 1780-03-19

To Elbridge Gerry

[dateline] Paris March 19th. 1780

[salute] My dear Friend

The British Admiralty sent Orders to Portsmouth the 21st. Feby., for the Departure
of a small Squadron of Frigates, which accordingly sailed on the 28th, under the Command
of Captain Marshall of the Emerald of 32. Guns: The others are the Hussar of 32, the
Surprize of 28, the Squirrel, and the Heart of Oak of 20: the Sloops the Beavers Prize
of 14, the Wolf and Wasp of 8, with the Cutters the Nimble and the Griffin. It is
believed that this little Squadron, is gone to make a Cruise upon the Coast of France,
to hinder the Transports, assembled in different ports from going out, or even to
destroy them, if it should be found possible.

The English boast much in their Papers, that Capt. Jarvis of the Foudroyant of 80.
Guns, who has been out upon a Cruise in the Mouth of the Channel, with a Division,
has returned to Plymouth, and gone to London to deliver himself to Government Dispatches,
of great Importance of the Court of France, to the Congress, found on Board a Sloop,
which going to Philadelphia, fell into his Hands. It is asserted, that these Dispatches
contain a very ample Detail of the Operations, concerted between the Court of Versailles
and Dr. Franklin, among which the most probable is the Attack of Hallifax, which is
to be made by a Body of Troops from New England, and a Detachment of French Forces,
very considerable both by Land and Sea.1

This Tale smells very strong of the Tree of Cracovie, for they have such a Tree in
London, as well as Paris. Dr. Rush will give You the Natural History of this Tree,
which flourishes in all Seasons of the Year, and bears an abundance of Fruit.2

Let me beg of You to inform me, what the Treasury Board have done with my Accounts:
and whether there is any Objection to them or Difficulty about them, and what it is.
For my own part I wish they might have the Accounts of other Gentlemen before them,
before they pass upon mine.

1. JA included this and the preceding paragraph in his letter of 19 March to the president of Congress (No. 21, calendared, below). There JA indicated that they were taken from a newspaper of 10 March. Since the reports had
appeared in the London newspapers at the beginning of March, JA's source was likely a continental paper, perhaps the Gazette de Leyde, which in a supplement to its issue of 10 March contained the reports ex• { 71 } actly as given by JA, except that they were in French. See also, the London Courant for 1 and 2 March; and the London Chronicle for 29 Feb. – 2 March.

2. JA included an account of the “tree of Cracovie” in his letter of 18 March to Benjamin
Rush (not printed), but see his letter to James Warren of the same date (above).

Docno: ADMS-06-09-02-0047

Author: Adams, John

Recipient: Huntington, Samuel

Recipient: President of Congress

Date: 1780-03-19

This is a summary of a document and does not contain a transcription. If it is available
elsewhere in this digital edition, a page number link will be provided below in the
paragraph beginning "Printed."

To the President of Congress, No. 21

In this letter, read in Congress on 22 July, John Adams repeated, almost verbatim,
the newspaper accounts of British naval movements and the capture of dispatches intended
for Congress contained in his letter to Elbridge Gerry of 19 March (above), and added the reports on the capture of Fort Omoa and the sailing of the
merchant convoy from Jamaica contained in Thomas Digges' letter of 10 March (above).

From Edmund Jenings

[dateline] Brussels March. 19. 1780

[salute] Dear Sir

I did myself the Honor of answering, by a preceding Post,1 that part of your obliging Favor of the 12th. Instant, which enquird into the Subsidiary
Treaties, which have been enterd into between the Powers of Europe; and now set down
to give you my Thoughts on that part of your Letter, wherein you Ask, how the Dutch,
debased as their natural Courage, is supposed to be, and weak as they are at this
moment, from neglecting their Marine, can Obtain Justice from the English, who have
a formidable Naval force, and great national Confidence: amounting to an Insolent
and outrageous Presumption in themselves, and an insufferable Contempt of others?

The Question Supposes the Dutch have a right and I suppose it is their Interest and
Duty, to repress the Arrogance of G B. who has treatd them with Contempt in the Eyes
of Europe, by insulting their Flag, and thereby violating their Independancy, and
even changing their Existance as a Nation; but it at the same Time Supposes, that
the Danger is too great for Holland to Attempt doing herself Justice, and moreover
she is too Corrupted to think of those bold Measures, which the Necessity of the Times
require.

National Courage, Sir, is seldom founded on Virtue, That of G B at this Day we Know
is not so. It is frequently founded in Selfishness and not Honor. This Selfishness,
when predominant, will carry Men through fire and Water, and makes them desperate
to Attain what they consider as essential to their Interests; if freedom of Commerce
is so to the Dutch, being deprivd of it by outrage and with Contempt, { 72 } there is not any thing, which they will not do either as Individuals or as a Nation,
to reclaim and vindicate it for the future; if they have not a true Sense of Honor,
they have a Strong one of their Interest, and have Strong Marks of a Sulky Pride,
which will not brooke an Injury or a Contempt. Bring them to Action with England on
the present important Question, and England will feel, what Men can do, who fight
for what they think most dear to them. But Dutch Courage is phlegmatic, and true Courage
in Individuals or a Nation has the Appearance of it, because it is always prudent,
and Prudence will ever instruct us to count the Charges and reckon the Cost, before
we begin an Enterprize, or give way to the Justest resentment; if the Dutch do this,
they will plainly see, that as a Freedom of Commerce is their vital Spring, they cannot
exist as a Nation, if ever it is cut off, and that therefore there is no risk, too
great to run, to secure its uninterrupted and perpetual Course. But what risk will
they run? England is Strong and the Dutch are weak. I doubt both one and the other.
The Dutch have the Strength, which abundant Men and Money give, and we Know that Men
and Money are the Sinews of War. And as they have Men and Money, we Know too they
have every Means of raising a naval force, in a more Expeditious Manner than any Nation
besides, and a naval force is the only thing wantd now. Relying on the Honor, the
Duty and the Friendship of G B, they have hitherto neglectd gaurding themselves against
her injustice, her viciousness and her Enmity, because they did not Suspect she would
Ever break out as in the present desperate Measure, she has done. But seeing now how
far her Rivalship in Trade, and her domineering Spirit will Carry her, it is Impossible,
but That Holland should Always be prepared for the worst that Avarice and Ambition,
these disturbers of private and public Repose, can produce in the King and Parliament
of G B, a King, a Parliament and people the most avaritious and ambitious, that now
Exist. The resources of Holland are great, its Obstinacy, in a Matter that touches
itself, is equally so. And what can touch them more than the present? But they are
unused to and unprepard for War, are they, Sir, more so than our dear Countrymen were?
We cannot surely but recollect, what they did in the early Times of their Commonwealth,
when certainly they had not the Means of defence and offense, they now have. They
then struggld nobly, for the Sake of Commerce, against the corruptd wickedness of
Charles the second, as they had done against the insolent usurpation of Cromwell.
They will, I trust, do it Again at this time, when they are Attacked on the same Principles,
and for the same Ends, and when { 73 } they Have greater Means, or they will submit themselves patiently and Cowardly to
the Commands of Arrogance, without any Attempt to do themselves Justice, but by a
few ineffectual Memorials. But stil Great Britain is too strong, it is better to submit
to a little Evil; than run the risk of a greater. Is this a little Evil? Is the dread
of having their Commerce somewhat impaird by War, for I suppose England is Capable
of doing Mischief, sufficient to prevent their Acting, to Maintain their Existence
and support the Honor of the National Flag? Yes, the Power of G B is irresistible.
I said before I doubtd much of the Actual Power of this insolent Nation, but if her
Power is formidable Now, what will it be, and how will she exertd it, when she has
extricatd herself from her present Embarassement? If She can now direct, in violation
of Treaties, the Commerce of Holland, what will she do in future? What will She do
when she has Confessedly lost America? She will certainly domineer over the seven
unitd Provinces in the Manner she formerly did over the 13 unitd States of America;
and will, with much political Wisdom think she has made, as was said on a former Occasion,
an happy exchange of distant, poor and Sturdy Colonies; for a neighbouring, rich and
Passive Nation.

But Consider, Sir, all National Strength is Comparative. G B therefore that might
have been strong against one Prince, may not be so against a formidable Combination
of Powers, an addition to which, even a Small one, a Holland is not so, will be Comparatively
Great. The Strength, that G B shows at present, which is supposd to frighten the Dutch,
is only proper to frighten Women and Children; it is the Strength of a Man in a Convulsion,
which for a Time throws Him into violent Distorsions, and afterwards renders Him weak
indeed, it is the force and fury of a desperate Madman, which it is for the Safety
of all, and more especially so of the weakest and the nearest to Him, to restrain
and bind down.

I cannot, therefore, think that G B is so formidably Strong, and Holland so miserably
weak, at this Juncture, as has been supposed, but if Holland is Weak, she is so from
the same Cause, that gives the Appearance of Strength to G B. There is a faction in
one, that drives her to the most insulting and desperate Actions, and in the other,
that Keeps Her from doing herself Justice it would be well for the Sake of both Countries,
that these factions were driven out, and then both would enjoy a greater degree of
civil and political Freedom.

If I have not tired You, Sir, I would examine how Holland ought to Conduct herself
at this Momentous Period. I think your Civility and Patience bid me go on. I would
say then that a direct Declaration of { 74 } War, when the Dutch Ships were seizd and carried to Portsmouth,2 woud have been unadvised, much less ought that to have been done, which the King
and Parliament did, when they Echoed backwards and forwards high indignant Expressions
against France, at the Time her Rescript was presentd, and not dard to make the natural
and consequential Declaration of Hostility; they found their folly and Madness had
got the better of their Wit, and Stopped but they were fools in that which they did,
and did not do. The Temper of the Dutch is Phlegmatic and the situation of their affairs
requires it should be so. But they might have actd, in two Instances, differently
from what they have done. Their Admiral Byland did right in not hoisting his Flag
without orders after it had been forced down, but He did Wrong in Saluting the English.
He seems to have actd freely and without Constraint after that, when He went to Portsmouth.
And the States General ought to have recalled their Embassadour after such an Insult
was offered to their Country, as evidently took away its Independance and its Existance
as a Nation, in the Eyes and Consideration of England at least. The Embassador ought
to have retird immediately from Court and droping all Communication with the Minister,
waited for orders, these orders ought to have been sent immediately to return home
until Reperation had been done to the Honor of his Country, and existence of the people
of Holland as a nation acknowledged thereby. For until that is done no Minister has
a power or even a right to represent an Independant State, the functions and Object
of his Commission Cease, when He cannot protect the property of his Countrymen, and
the Honor of the National Flag. This might have been remonstratd cooly and firmly,
and if the English Minister had demanded, as He would perhaps have had the Impertinence
and Assurance to do, whether He was to look on this Step in an inimical and Hostile
Vein, He might have answered, that He had no Instructions on that Head, but that He
supposed Holland was as well inclind to G B as G B was to Holland. In the mean Time
every Measure ought to have been taken to put the unitd Provinces in a State of Defence,
the Number of their Ships ought to be increasd, and Mannd with the Utmost Expedition,
and there is no State can do it sooner, her Posts in the East and West Indias put
on their Gaurd, and their force, particularly those in the East, trebld; Applications
ought to have been made at the same Time to all the Powers of Europe to make theirs
a Common Cause, to restrain the Insolence of a too predominant Power, to the Outrage
of which they were all exposed. But they ought especially to have concerted and cooperated
with the { 75 } House of Bourbon, and by such concert and cooperation given a double Strength to the
Confederacy. This would have intimidatd England, or reduced her by force to do justice.
If after all, the Policy of Holland prevents her taking any hostile Steps, there is
nothing she will not be justified in doing to diminish the Influence, the Interest
and the force of G B by countenancing and assisting her Ennemies, she might in particular
either acknowledge openly or treat our Country as an Independant State, and make its
Independancy a Common Cause against GB, who denies it to both. The freedom of the
American Commerce which rests on her Independancy being of the greatest Consequence
to Holland; the Object of the Act of Navigation, which establishd the former Monopoly
in favor of England, having been particularly Levelled against the Commercial Interest
of the Dutch. But if it is thought not adviseable to take this open Step, Holland
might do much better for us with less danger, and more profit to itself by giving,
or what is more in the Dutch way, lending us a considerable Sum of Money, which I
trust we should use most Advantageously for the public Good. Individuals would certainly
find their Account in this Measure, and therefore would give into it for private gain,
and as it is Necessary in a public light, it is the Duty of the States general to
Countenance and promote it. I am Confident you, Sir, Agree with me in this, and I
heartily wish every success to Any Application, that maybe made for this purpose.

I suppose Mr Laurens is arrived, and that He will soon pass this Way. I shall be proud
of being Known to him by your means.

I hear there is a book published in France and addressed to the Princes of Europe,
recommending our Interests to them pray what is the Title?3

I have some Thoughts of making a particular address to the Dutch on the present situation
of their affairs, I certainly would do it, if I had your Approbation and could get
it well translatd.

2. On 27 Dec. 1779 a combined fleet, one section intended for the West Indies and the
other for France and Spain, sailed from Texel under the protection of a Dutch naval
force commanded by Adm. Lodewijk van Bylandt. Among the vessels going to France and
Spain were several carrying hemp, tar, and other shipbuilding materials not excluded
from convoy by the States General's resolution of 19 Nov. 1778. Several others, that
carried ships timbers, sailed with the convoy at their own risk. Note, however, that
none of the materials for the construction or maintenance of ships, including ships
timbers, whether under van Bylandt's protection or not, were counted as contraband
under Art. 3 of the Anglo-Dutch treaty of 1674. On 31 Dec. 1779, a Brit• { 76 } ish force commanded by Como. Charles Fielding met van Bylandt's fleet off the Isle
of Wight. Fielding demanded permission to search the ships of the convoy for contraband
and, when van Bylandt refused, used his superior force to compel van Bylandt's acquiescence.
After seizing a number of ships, Fielding ordered and obtained a salute to the British
flag. Refusing to proceed with the convoy, van Bylandt followed the captured vessels
into the anchorage at Spithead, near Portsmouth, where he remained until told by the
States General to return to Texel with the warships under his command. In March the
ships carrying hemp, tar, and other naval stores under the convoy's protection were
ordered confiscated by the British admiralty court, while those carrying ships timbers
at their own risk were returned after their cargoes had been purchased.

The interception of the Dutch convoy and seizure of ships legally under its protection
represented a violation of the undoubted right of a nation to protect ships sailing
under its flag. Its implication for the Anglo-Dutch treaty of 1674 was of even greater
importance. Britain intended to do everything in its power to stop the Franco-Dutch
trade in naval stores even if it meant unilaterally abrogating those sections of the
treaty of 1674 defining contraband. Although the assault on the convoy caused considerable
agitation in the Netherlands, little was done beyond the delivery of protests to the
ministry in London and to Sir Joseph Yorke at The Hague. No clear alteration of the
Dutch position vis-à-vis either Britain or France occurred until April and then it
was at Britain's initiative in retaliation for the lack of response by the States
General to its demands (Edler, Dutch Republic and the American Revolution, p. 129–136). For more information on the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1674, the controversy
over convoys for Dutch ships, and the deterioration of Anglo-Dutch relations, see
vols. 7:34–35, 169, 205, 384; 8:59.

3. Jenings is probably referring to Thomas Pownall's A Memorial, Most Humbly Addressed to the Sovereigns of Europe, on the Present State
of Affairs, Between the Old and New World, published at London by John Almon in 1780, but see Thomas Digges' letter of 6 April (below).

Docno: ADMS-06-09-02-0049

Author: Adams, John

Recipient: Huntington, Samuel

Recipient: President of Congress

Date: 1780-03-20

This is a summary of a document and does not contain a transcription. If it is available
elsewhere in this digital edition, a page number link will be provided below in the
paragraph beginning "Printed."

To the President of Congress, No. 22

With this letter, read in Congress on 1 Aug., John Adams sent copies of the London
General Advertiser and the London Morning Post. The newspapers, which he promised to send regularly and had received from Edmé Jacques
Genet (see JA to Genet, 22 March, note 1, below), represented the views of the opposition and the ministry respectively.
He also commented on the disputes between the various factions in Great Britain, a
probable delay in the sailing of Rochambeau's army, and Lafayette's return to America.

To Alexander Gillon

[dateline] Paris March 21st 1780

[salute] Sir

Yesterday I recieved yours of the 14th. which came very safe. I thank You for the
News about the Northern Powers, but should have been glad you had been more particular.
There are Reasons to suspect that some Letters are opened, but as the friends of our
Country must communicate with each other, it will not do to interrupt Correspondences
for fear our Letters shall be opened. We may write so as to { 77 } serve our Country rather than hurt it, by the Opening of our Letters. Let those take
the Shame of it, who take these unworthy Methods of coming at Secrets and Knowledge
they have no right to.

I hope very soon to recieve the Performance of your Promise to write me on some interesting
Matters in Agitation, and others that were put in Execution the 4th. instant.

Should be much obliged to You, to know the Names of the principal Mercantile Houses
in Amsterdam, which have been and are reputed to be friendly to the Claims and Pretensions
of the United States.

To William Lee

I have just received your Favour from Brussells of the 17th. of this Month, and I
thank you for this Instance of your Attention to me.

Considering the State of Ireland, and the Spirit which Seems to be rising in England,
which has already attained Such an Height, as to baffle the Minister in the East India
Company, and to carry many Votes in the House of Commons almost to a Ballance with
him and even Some against him, I should not be at all surprised, if Terms such as
you mention should be offered to America; nor should I be Surprised if another Rumour
which was propagated at the Palais Royal this day, should prove true, that a great
Change is made or to be made in the Ministry, and that the Lords Shelbourne, Rockingham,
Burke &c are in. Yet I have no proper Accounts of either.

Whatever may be my Powers, or Instructions, or whether I have any or not, I am very
much obliged to you for your Sentiments on such a Proposition as a Truce for America,
supposing it should be made. Your Arguments are of great Weight, and will undoubtedly
be attended to by every one, whoever he may be, who shall be called to give an Opinion
upon Such a great Question. You will not expect me, at present to give if it is proper
for me even to form, any decided Opinion upon it. Yet thus much, I may venture to
say, that having had so long Experience of the Policy of our Ennemies, I am persuaded
from the whole of it, if they propose a Truce it will be not with an Expectation or
desire that America should accept it, but { 78 } merely to try one Experiment more to deceive, divide, and Seduce, in order to govern.

You observe that the Heads of Some, well intentioned tho visionary Americans, run
much upon, a Truce. I have, Seen and heard enough, to be long Since convinced that
the Americans in Europe are by no means, an Adequate Representative of those on the
other side the Water. They neither feel nor reason like them in general: I should
therefore upon all Occasions hear their Arguments with Attention, weigh them with
Care, but be sure never to follow them when I know them to differ from the Body of
their Countrymen, at home.

You say the Duch are disturbed. Do you wonder at it? They have been kicked by the
English as no reasonable Man would kick a Dog: they have been whipped by them, as
no sober Postilion would whip an hackney Coach Horse. Can they submit to all this
upon any Principle which would not oblige them to submit, if the English were to bombard
Amsterdam, or cutt away their Dykes!

I wish I knew the Name of the principal Confidant and Director of the Prince, whom
you mention.

I am very anxious to hear of the Arrival of Mr Laurens, but suspect you will learn
it first.

Mr Dana returns his Respects to you.

I thank you, sir for your offers of service: nothing can oblige me more, than to communicate
to me any Intelligence, of the designs of our Enemies in Politicks or War, their real
and pretended Forces by Sea and Land. Pray what is the foundation of the story of
a Quintuple Alliance between Holland, Sweeden, Russia, Prussia, and Denmark? I am
with great Esteem, sir, your hul Set.

To the Comte de Vergennes

[dateline] Paris March 21st. 1780 Hotel de Valois Rue de Richelieu

In the letter which you did me the honour to write me the 24th. of February your Excellency
proposed that the principal object of my Mission1 shou'd be inserted in the Gazette of France, when it shou'd make mention of my presentation
to the King and Royal Family. In the answer to this letter which I had the honour
write on the 25th. { 79 } of February, I informed your Excellency that I shou'd not think myself at liberty
to make any publication of my powers to treat of Peace, untill they shou'd have been
announced in the Gazette.2

It was on the 7th. of March, that I had the honour to be presented to the King and
Royal Family, but no notice has been taken of it in the Gazette of France. Whether
this omission is accidental, or whether it is owing to any alteration in your Excellency's
sentiments, I am not able to determine.3 Your Excellency will excuse the trouble I give you upon this occasion, as it arises
wholly from a desire to be able at all times, to render an account to my Sovereign,
of the motives and reasons of my own conduct. I have the honour to be with the most
perfect consideration your Excellency's most obedient and most humble Servant,

2. In the Letterbook, this sentence was written below the closing and marked for insertion
at this point. For the letters of 24 and 25 Feb., as well as JA's comments regarding them, see JA, Diary and Autobiography, 4:251–254 and calendar entries, vol. 8:362–363, 367.

3. In the Letterbook, this sentence was written and then revised as follows: “Whether
this omission is accidental, or whether it is owing to any Alteration in your Excellencys
<Opinion> sentiments, <arising from any Change of Circumstances, which may have since happend> I am not able to determine.”

John Adams to Edmé Jacques Genet: A Translation

[dateline] 22 March [1780]

Mr. Adams sends his sincere compliments to Mr. Genet and thanks him for the British
gazettes. Mr. Adams would like Mr. Genet to please inform him when, and to whom, the
payment for these gazettes should be made.

In addition, Mr. Adams would like to know if the rumor spread yesterday concerning
some change in the British ministry has any foundation. Also the rumor concerning
a quintuple alliance between the northern powers and Holland &c. and yet another that
the British are once more about to make false and insidious proposals to America.

Such is Mr. Genet's punishment for having written to Mr. Adams in English.1

1. Under cover of a brief note of 18 March, written in English (Adams Papers), Genet had sent JA copies of the Morning Post and the General Advertiser. For JA's original request to Genet to write to him in French, see JA to Genet, 1 Aug. 1778 (vol. 6:337–338).

Docno: ADMS-06-09-02-0054

Author: Adams, John

Recipient: Huntington, Samuel

Recipient: President of Congress

Date: 1780-03-23

To the President of Congress, No. 23

[dateline] Paris Hotel de Valois Ruë de Richelieu March 23d. 1780

[salute] Sir

I have the Honor to inclose the English Papers of the eleventh thirteenth and fourteenth
of March. The Courier de L'Europe and the Hague, Leiden and Amsterdam Gazettes.

We are in hourly Expectation of great News from Holland, Ireland, England, Spain,
and above all from America and the West Indies. I have not a Letter from America,
since I left it, except one from my Family of the tenth of December;1 and indeed, although several Vessels have arrived, I can hear of no Letters or News.2

By the English Papers Congress will percieve the violent Fermentation in England,
which has arisen to such an Height, as to produce a Congress3 in Fact, and it will soon be so in Name. The Proceedings in the House of Commons
on the fourteenth, which were terminated by a Resolution of the Committee of the whole
House, to abolish the Board of Trade and Plantations, carried against the Ministry
after a very long and warm Debate by a Majority of Eight Voices,4 is not only the most extraordinary Vote which has passed in the present Reign, but
it leads to very extensive Consequences.

I believe it is very true, that this Board has been the true Cause of the Quarrel
of Great Britain against the Colonies, and therefore may be considered as a natural
Object of national Resentment; but a { 81 } Resentment of this kind alone, would not probably have produced this Effect.

Whether it is the near Approach of an Election, that has intimidated the Members of
the House of Commons; or whether the Committees, Petitions, Associations and Congress
have alarmed them; or whether the Nation is convinced that America is indeed lost
forever, and consequently that the Board will in future be useless, I dont know.

Be this as it may, the English Nation, and even the Irish and Scotch Nations—all parts
of the World will draw this Inference from it, that even in the Opinion of the House
of Commons America is lost. The free and virtuous Citizens of America,5 and even the slavish and vicious, if there are any still remaining of this Character,
under the Denomination of Tories, must be convinced by this Vote, passed in the Heyday
of their Joy for the Sucesses of Admiral Rodney's Fleet, that the House of Commons
despair of ever regaining America. The Nations, subject to the House of Bourbon, cannot
fail to put the same Interpretation upon this Transaction. Holland, and all the Northern
Powers, with the Empress of Russia at their Head, who are all greatly irritated against
England for their late Violences against the innocent Commerce of Neutral Powers,
will draw the same Consequences. The Politicians of Great Britain are too enlightened
in the History of Nations, and the Rise and Progress of Causes and Effects in the
political World, not to see that all these Bodies of People will, in Consequence of
this Vote, consider the Colonies as given up for lost by the House of Commons; and
they are too well instructed not to know the important Consequences that follow, from
having such points as these, thus settled among the Nations. I cannot therefore but
consider this Vote, and the other respecting the Secretary of State for the American
Department, which arose almost to a Ballance as a most important Declaration of the
Sense of the Nation.

The first probable Consequence of it, will be one further Attempt, by offering some
specious Terms, which they know we cannot in Justice, in Honor, in Conscience accept,
to deceive seduce and divide America, throw all into Confusion there, and by this
Means gain an Opportunity to govern.

There is nothing more astonishing than the Inconsistencies of the Patriots in England.
Those, who are most violent against the Ministry, are not for making Peace with France
and Spain, but they wish to allure America into a seperate Peace, and persuade her
to join them against the House of Bourbon. One would think it impossible, that { 82 } one Man of Sense in the World could seriously believe, that we could thus basely violate
our Faith, thus unreasonably quarrel with our best Friends, thus madly attach ourselves
to our bitterest Enemies. But thus it is.

Sir George Saville threw out in the House, that he wished to carry home to his Constituents
the News of an Accommodation with America, and Mr David Hartley has given Notice of
his Intention to make a Motion relative to Us.6 But I confess I have no Expectations. Mr Hartley's Motions and Speeches have never
made any great Fortune in the House, nor been much attended to; from whence I conclude,
if the present great Leaders of Opposition in the House, were seriously disposed to
do any thing towards a Pacification, which we could attend to, they would not suffer
Mr. Hartley to have the Honor of making the Motion.

The Heads of many People run upon a Truce with America, and Mr. Hartley's Motion may
tend this Way: but a Truce with America cannot be made without a Peace with France
and Spain; and would America accept of such a Truce? Give Great Britain time to encroach
and fortify upon all our Frontiers? To send Emissaries into the States and sow the
Seeds of Discord? To rise out of her present exhausted and ruined Condition? Suffer
France and Spain to relax? Wait for Alterations by the Deaths of Princes, or the Changes
in the Characters of Princes or Ministers in the System of Europe? I ask these Questions,
that Congress may give me Instructions if they think necessary. At present I dont
believe that my Powers are sufficient to agree to a Truce, if it was proposed; nor
do I believe it would be for our Interest or Safety to agree to it, if I had. I dont
mean however to give any decided Opinion upon such a great Question, in this hasty
Letter. I am open to Conviction, and shall obey the Instructions of Congress with
the most perfect Respect.7

[salute] I have the Honor to be, with the Greatest Respect & Esteem, Sir, your most obedient,
and most humble Servant,

2. This and the following six paragraphs were published in various American newspapers,
including the Pennsylvania Gazette of 26 July and the Boston Gazette of 7 August.

3. JA is referring to the meeting of delegates from various county and city associations
at London's St. Alban's Tavern between 11 and 20 March. On 29 Feb. circular letters
signed by Christopher Wyvill, the driving force be• { 83 } hind the association movement, were sent to county and municipal associations calling
on them to send delegates to a meeting for the purpose of discussing a plan of association.
This assembly, attended by representatives from only eleven counties and four cities,
agreed to recommend the formation of a general association that would strive to promote
economical reform, diminish the Crown's influence, add at least 100 county members
to the House of Commons, and institute annual parliaments. The general association
envisioned by Wyvill and proposed by the St. Alban's meeting never materialized, largely
because of the ideological gap between the relatively conservative members of the
county associations and the radicals controlling the counterpart organizations in
the cities, most notably London. The county members strongly supported economical
reform, but were much less interested in parliamentary reform, particularly the institution
of annual parliaments. When it became clear that the radicals in and about London
saw the cause of parliamentary reform as of equal if not greater importance than control
of expenditures, the willingness of the county associations to join an umbrella organization
diminished (Ian R. Christie, Wilkes, Wyvill and Reform, London, 1962, p. 89–95, 99–115).

4. The abolition of the Board of Trade formed part of Edmund Burke's economical reform
bill. The debate on the provision began on 13 March and ended the next morning at
quarter past two with the vote reported by JA (Parliamentary Hist., 21:233–278). The victory marked the high tide of support for Burke's proposal, which
was finally nullified when the entire bill was withdrawn.

5. The phrase was taken from the title of Silas Deane's address “To the Free and Virtuous
Citizens of America” (Pennsylvania Packet, 5 Dec. 1778), which JA saw as “one of the most wicked and abominable Productions that ever sprung from an
human Heart” (JA, Diary and Autobiography, 2:345). Believing that the address undermined the ability of Congress and its representatives
in Europe to conduct foreign policy, JA had even written to Vergennes on 11 Feb. 1779 in an effort to counteract its effects (vol. 7:401; 8: index).

6. For the statements by Saville and Hartley, see Edmund Jenings' letter of 18 March, and note 10 (above).

7. As the endorsement indicates, this letter was read on 24 July and referred to the
Committee for Foreign Affairs. On 3 Aug., however, the letter was transferred to another
committee, composed of James Lovell, Thomas McKean, John Henry Jr., James Madison,
and John Morin Scott, that had been formed on 1 Aug. to consider JA's letter of 24 March (No. 24, below; JCC, 17:654, 691, 685). Additional instructions regarding a truce were adopted by Congress
on 18 Oct., and received by Francis Dana at Paris on or about 10 Jan. 1781, but may
not have reached JA until mid-April. For the delay, see the descriptive note to the instructions of 18 Oct. (below).

Docno: ADMS-06-09-02-0055

Author: Adams, John

Recipient: Huntington, Samuel

Recipient: President of Congress

Date: 1780-03-24

To the President of Congress, No. 24

[dateline] Paris Hotel de Valois Ruë de Richelieu March 24th. 1780

[salute] Sir

Mr. Burke's Bill not being as yet public, we are not yet informed of the Extent of
it. But as it already appears, that it strikes at the Department of Secretary of State
for America, at the Board of Trade, there seems to be little Reason to doubt that
it goes further and strikes at the American Board of Commissioners, at all the American
Judges of Admiralty, Governors of Provinces, Secretaries and Custom House Officers
of all Denominations—at least if this should not be found to be a part of the Bill,
there are stronger Reasons if possible for abolishing this whole System of Iniquity,
together with all the Pensions granted to the Refugees from America, than even for
taking { 84 } away the Board of Trade; and from several late Paragraphs in the Papers, and from
Mr. Fox's severe Observations in the House of Commons upon Governor Hutchinson, calling
him in Substance, “The Firebrand” that lighted up all the Fire between the two Countries,
it seems pretty clear, that it is in Contemplation to take away all these Salaries
and Pensions.1

If such a Measure should take place, exiled as these persons are from the Country
which gave them Birth, but which they most ungratefully have endeavoured to enslave,
they will become melancholy Monuments of divine Vengeance against such unnatural and
impious Behaviour.

Nevertheless, as these Persons are numerous, and have some Friends, in England as
well as in America, where they had once much Property, there is a probability, I think,
that whenever or wherever Negotiations for Peace may be commenced, they and their
Estates now almost universally confiscated, will not be forgotten: but much Pains
and Art will be employed to stipulate for them in the Treaty, both a Restoration of
their Property, and a Right to return as Citizens of the States to which they formerly
belonged. It is very possible, however, that before a Treaty shall be made, or even
Negotiations commenced, these Gentlemen will become so unpopular and odious, that
the People of England would be pleased with their Sufferings and Punishment: but it
is most probable that the Court will not abandon them very easily.

I should therefore be very happy to have the explicit Instructions of Congress upon
this Head, whether I am to agree, in any Case whatsoever, to an Article which shall
admit either of their Return, or the Restoration of their forfeited Estates. There
are Sentiments of Humanity and of Forgiveness which plead on one Side, there are Reasons
of State and political Motives, among which the danger of admitting such mischievous
Persons as Citizens is not the least considerable, which argue on the other. I shall
obey the Instructions of Congress with the utmost pleasure; or if for any Reasons
they choose to leave it at Discretion, if I should ever have the Opportunity, I shall
determine it, without listening to any Passions of my own of Compassion or Resentment
according to my best Judgment of the public Good.

There is another Point of very great Importance, which I am persuaded will be aimed
at by the English Ministers, I am sure it will by the People of England, whenever
Terms of Peace shall be talked of. For facilitating the Return of Commerce, they will
wish to have { 85 } it stipulated by the Treaty, that the Subjects of Great Britain shall have the Rights
of Citizens in America, and the Citizens of the United States the Rights of Subjects
in the British Dominions. Some of the Consequences of such an Agreement to them and
to Us, are obvious, and very important: but they are so numerous, and it is so difficult
to determine, whether the Benefits or Inconveniences prevail, that I should be sorry
to have so great a Question left to my determination: if however, contrary to my Inclinations,
it should fall to my Lot to decide it, without Instructions, it shall be decided according
to my Conscience and the best Lights I have.2

[salute] I have the Honor to be, with a Sincere Attachment, Sir, your most obedient and most
humble Servant,

1. Edmund Burke's economical reform bill abolished the third secretary of state, for
the colonies, and the Board of Trade and Plantations, but it did not seek to examine
or eliminate existing pensions, only to reduce the funds available for future pensions.
On 2 March, during the debates over whether to consider Burke's bill on that day or
postpone it until the following Wednesday, Charles James Fox reportedly declared that
“he hoped, that as the thirteen colonies were now actually lost, . . . the public
was to have a great saving, and he hoped to hear that the pensions given to the American
governors would be discontinued, and particularly that granted to governor Hutchinson,
who had been the fore-runner and very firebrand of the rebellion on the other side
of the Atlantic” (Parliamentary Hist., 21:111–112, 118–122, 153; Ian R. Christie, Wilkes, Wyvill and Reform, London, 1962, p. 87–88).

2. For Congress' additional instructions to JA in response to his questions, see its resolution of 18 Oct. (below), and JA's letter of 23 March to the president of Congress, and note 7 (No. 23, above).

Docno: ADMS-06-09-02-0056

Author: Adams, John

Recipient: Huntington, Samuel

Recipient: President of Congress

Date: 1780-03-24

This is a summary of a document and does not contain a transcription. If it is available
elsewhere in this digital edition, a page number link will be provided below in the
paragraph beginning "Printed."

In this letter, received by Congress on 31 July and read on 1 Aug., John Adams, using
information in British newspapers, analyzed the events leading to Rodney's victory
over the Spanish and his relief of Gibraltar. He then described resolutions taken
by an Assembly at Dublin on 22 Feb., which called on Irish legislators to deny the
right of the British Parliament to legislate for Ireland. Adams believed that this
and similar disputes were evidence of the British Empire's decline.

This is a summary of a document and does not contain a transcription. If it is available
elsewhere in this digital edition, a page number link will be provided below in the
paragraph beginning "Printed."

To the President of Congress, No. 26

In this letter, received by Congress on { 86 } 31 July and read on 1 Aug., John Adams used material taken from British newspapers
to describe the celebrations on 2 March at Dublin over the passage of the Irish Trade
Bill and summarized in detail the addresses of both Houses of the Irish Parliament
thanking the King for approving it. He also included the text of the instructions
of 7 March from the “Freeholders of the County of Dublin” to their representatives,
requiring them to seek the repeal of Poyning's Law and concluded with a summary of
other events showing Ireland's determination to be free of domination by the British
Parliament. For a discussion of Poyning's Law, see vol. 8:370–371.

From Arthur Lee

[dateline] L'Orient March 26th. 1780

[salute] Dear Sir

I have but one moment to thank you, for your favor1 with one from London enclosd which I received on my return from Brest. We are likely
to be detaind here by the prize-money for the Serapis &c. not being paid, without
which the Crew of the Alliance threaten a Mutiny.2

If, as I apprehend it may, the application I requested you to make to Mr. G[rand]3 should at all interfere with your plan, which I think very prudent, of keeping as
free as possible from these disputes, which indeed are a reproach to us, I beg you
will think no more of it. What has been Gerards conduct since his arrival and what
his reception. He is a man to be observd narrowly. I dont mean on any account but
on that of the public to which I think he will yet do much mischief, if he is listend
to.

2. The Alliance's officers and men had not received their prize money from the Bonhomme Richard expedition because of delays in the sale of the prizes and the refusal of the prize
agent, Le Ray de Chaumont, to advance the money. Not until April did Benjamin Franklin
provide them with one month's pay, the first they had received since sailing from
America. The crew placed the blame for their situation squarely on John Paul Jones'
shoulders. Ultimately Arthur Lee was able to use that discontent to displace Jones
and put Pierre Landais in command (Morison, John Paul Jones, p. 274, 294–295; see also John Bondfield to JA, 12 April, below).

This is a summary of a document and does not contain a transcription. If it is available
elsewhere in this digital edition, a page number link will be provided below in the
paragraph beginning "Printed."

To the President of Congress, No. 27

In this letter, received by Congress on 31 July and read on 1 Aug., John Adams wrote
that war “is now generally considered as a Contest of Finances; so that the Nation
which can the longest find Money to carry on the War, can generally hold out the longest.”
Adams believed that Great Britain, because of its { 87 } heavy taxation since 1774, had nearly reached the end of its resources. In support
of his claim, Adams included a British newspaper account of the proposals for new
taxes that Lord North had presented to Parliament on 15 March. The additional revenue
was intended to pay the interest on the twelve million pound loan to support the current
budget that had been approved on 6 March (Parliamentary Hist., 21:154–171).

From Jeremiah Allen

[dateline] Libourne Mar 27 1780

[salute] Dear Sir

Some Villain, has reported, and it is almost universally Creditted by the people of
this place, that the Americans, have concluded a peace with Great Britain, and notwithstanding
the absurdity of the report, and all the reasons, that I could give them, such as,
the impossibillity of concluding peace, in so short a time, and from the disposition
of the people when I left America—also that no one, could possibly have powers from
Britain to Accede to peace, still they pretend something about the paper money &c.
And look on a Virginia Gentleman and myself with as much coldness, as tho it was a
fact, and, that we where the persons who had Brought it, about. As I have been treated,
with the greatest, poliness heretofore, and the present behavoiur, is Occasiond by
this report, which is lilkwise curculated at Bordeaux, I must beg it, as a favour
to be Indulged, with a line or two from you, by the next post, to prove the falseness
of the report. I sometime ago, wrote Mr. Thaxter, but as I only directed for Paris,
I suppose the letter is in the office now, as I had no Answer. Please to present my
Regards to the Honorable Mr. Dana, Mr. Thaxter and the Young Gentlemen—if they are
with you at Paris. I have to ask pardon, for troubling you, with this letter, when
matters of so much more Consequince no doubt, Demand your attention. But that friendship,
which you was pleased to Express for me, must be my Excuse.

[salute] I am Dear Sir with great Respect and Esteem your most Obedient humble Servt,

1. Allen, a fellow passenger on La Sensible in Nov.–Dec. 1779, was a Boston merchant seeking to establish himself in Europe (vol.
8:300).

Docno: ADMS-06-09-02-0061

Author: Adams, John

Recipient: Jenings, Edmund

Date: 1780-03-28

To Edmund Jenings

[dateline] Paris March 28th. 1780

[salute] Dear Sir

I am almost ashamed to acknowledge, after ten days, the receipt of your favor of the
18th, and to thank You for the pains You have taken in searching the Treaties for
Examples of Subsidies.

I had understood that the House of Austria, altho' one of the most powerful in Europe,
and the constant Rival of that of Bourbon, not being a maritime and commercial Power,
had always occasion for Money, to pay and support their Troops in Time of War, and
that She had in many former Wars, derived Subsidies for these purposes from England,
and in the last War from France. It is very possible it might be by secret Convention.
You mention a Collection of Treaties: I should be obliged to You for the Title and
Description of that Work at large.

I believe the News you mention, of the English having further unmerited Success, is
premature.

I have this day been to Mr. Lee's Lodgings and got the Maps, and a small Bundle for
You; both of which shall wait your Orders.

I am sorry that Motions relative to America are left to Mr. Hartley, whose plans never
make any great fortune in the House. Whenever there shall be, a serious Intention,
of doing any thing to purpose, Mr. Hartley will not be the Man to make the Motion.
Some other more illustrious, able and decided Character will have the honor of it.
His Dispositions and Intentions seem to be good: but so small a Pebble, never spreads
a great Circle, where it falls.

I have a Letter from Spain, the 15th1 by which it appears, that Mr. Jay was expected to be at Madrid, by that day, as Mr.
Charmichael and some other Gentlemen were going out to meet him at Aranjuez2 seven Leagues from Madrid.3 Same Letter informs, that an Armament is preparing at Cadiz equal to that at Brest,
and conjectured to be for the same destination.

I can do no more than acknowledge the Receipt of your other favor of the 19th. and
agree with You in Opinion, that the Dutch will be brought to the Necessity of taking
some part, in this War, which is rendered still clearer by the British Ambassador's
Memorial to the States General the 21st. of this Month, as well as by the Condemnation
of the Dutch Prizes. The English seem to consider their Ruin as already compleat,
and to think it quite indifferent what they do. Plunder and Rapine are their only
Objects at present. If they can get { 89 } any thing, any how, right or wrong, well—they can loose nothing. This is the Principle
of their Councils, if there is any.

There is a Briton, of High Rank and Office now in Paris, who, in a late Conversation
with a Dutchmen, told him, that his Country would declare War against Holland before
next October. We are ruined, says he, that is plain. As to the Americans, it is certain
they will have their Independence. But God d—n them, why should they wish to rip up
our Belly, the Belly of their Mother? I should have answered, why did the Mother pluck
the Nipple from the boneless Gums, even when the Infant was smiling in her Face, and
dash the Brains out?

Mr. Laurens is not arrived, when he does, I shall certainly have the Honor and pleasure
of bringing to the Knowledge of each other, two so good Men, as him and Mr. Jennings.

I have made some Enquiry after the Book, addressed to the Princes of Europe, and recommending
our Interests to them: but can hear nothing of it.4

I hope to see your particular Address to the Dutch. I am sure it must be good. They
must be addressed and must arouse themselves, or they will be undone. There is Vengeance
preparing for them, by those whose ruling Passion is Revenge and Plunder.

What will be the Consequence, and what is the design, in the Abolition of the Board
of Trade? It is true it has done all the Mischief—it was the Engine of Bernard, Hutchinson,
Paxton and all the Bout-de-Feu's,5 that first kindled the Blaze. Do they mean to express Resentment at it, and confess
that the Plantations are lost?

[salute] I am, with great Affection, Sir, your most obedient humble Servant,

5. That is, firebrands. For a specific reference to Thomas Hutchinson as such, see JA to the president of Congress, 24 March, No. 24, and note 1 (above).

Docno: ADMS-06-09-02-0062

Author: Adams, John

Recipient: Huntington, Samuel

Recipient: President of Congress

Date: 1780-03-28

This is a summary of a document and does not contain a transcription. If it is available
elsewhere in this digital edition, a page number link will be provided below in the
paragraph beginning "Printed."

From Thomas Digges

[dateline] London 28 Mar 80

[salute] Sir

I am obligd to You for a letter the 14th Instant.1 My writing to You is from the motive of making You acquainted from time to time with
any material movement or particular news from this quarter, which may be interesting
or serving in any way the business you are engagd in; Your particular situation must
put it out of your power to write when even you may wish to do so, and I by no means
expect regular Answers to Letters I send You. I should be happy to render you any
services here, and if You can spare but a few minutes when any thing favorable from
America reaches Paris, (for bad news flies quick enough) to inform me thereof, it
is all I can expect from You.

We have got accounts here from the Windward Islands so late as the 20th Feby. and
from Jamaica the 4th Feby. Nothing material from the last mentiond place, save that
the former accounts we had of the Spaniards possessing Pensacola seem not to be true
at least that place was not taken the 3d Jany.

The fleet which saild the 26 Decr. for Barbados was arrivd Gen. Vaughan and about
4,000 Men was with it and were preparing about the middle of Feby. for an Expedition
against Grenada. A secret Expedition saild from Jamaica about the last Jany. 800 Men,
one Man of War and 5 or six armd Ships, supposd for the Coasts of South America nearest
to Guatimala.

A Passenger by the last Ship from Barbadoes, says, that two transports of Clintons
Expedition had been blown to the West Indies (Antigua), but this is not publickly
known or put forth by Gazette Authority. If it is true, that expedition must have
faild in its purpose against Charles Town.

There are strong reports that ministry having received intelligence very lately that
a Squadron of 5 or 6 Ships were going directly from France to North America, have
orderd six men of war under Adml Greaves to the New York Station. The West India fleet
which have been some time at Ports are still detaind as well on account of the Winds,
as the waiting for some additional men of war to see them safe and out of the reach
of the Brest fleet. They will sail with about 20 Ships of war, only 3 or four to proceed
on to the West Indies, which it is said will make the summer West India Fleet about
32 sail of the Line.2

Altho we have so recent accounts from the West Indies and many { 91 } quick voyages from thence, there is not a tittle from N York or America since of 26
Decr.3

1. Probably JA's second letter of 14 March in reply to Digges' letter of the 3d (both above). There JA promised to be a faithful correspondent.

2. The information provided by Digges appeared in London newspapers on or previous to
the date of this letter. See, for example, the London Chronicle of 25–28 March, and London Courant of 27 and 28 March.

3. JA made a verbatim transcript of this and the preceding four paragraphs and enclosed
it in a letter of 4 April to Sartine (Arch. de la Marine, Paris, Campagnes B4, vol. 182), to which there are apparently two replies (both Adams Papers). In the first, which is dated 5 April and does not mention the letter of the 4th,
Sartine wrote in his own hand that he already had the information supplied by JA, but thanked him for his consideration. The second letter, dated 15 April and in
a clerk's hand, mentions the letter of the 4th, and thanks JA for the information that he has provided.

Docno: ADMS-06-09-02-0064

Author: Livingston, Muscoe

Recipient: Adams, John

Date: 1780-03-28

From Muscoe Livingston

[dateline] Nantes 28 March 1780

[salute] Dear Sir

Permit me, late as it is, to congratulate you on your Safe arrival one More to this
Country, after the very disagreable passage you must have had, Owing to the distress
of the frigate you was on board of.

You was so Good as take Charge of a Letter for Governor Livingston from me at Lorient
last year; nay did you See him or did you send the Letter to him.1

I am happy to tell you, that I have all most Recovered My health; and as there is
a fleet of French Men of war going out to America, I am Exceedingly Anxious to profit
of such an Opportunity; can you and will you be so Good as to procure me a passage
in one of them; Should they be destined for Virginia I can be of some Service to them,
on that coast which I should be happy to do.

I wish Much, to have had the happiness to See you, before I left this country, as
I have Many things to Say, that in those days of[]2 amongst us it would be imprudant to trust to paper.

Should I be So lucky as Git permition to go, in One of the Men of war for America;
and you have any dispatches for the Continant, I beg leave to Offer you My best Services,
on the delivery of them, as any thing Else, that I have the power of doing. Plan to
direct to me, Au Soins de Mons. Schweighauser, I have the Honor to be with Much Respect
Dear Sir, your most Obd H Ser,

3. For Livingston, former lieutenant on the frigate Boston and, with John Bondfield and William Haywood, shareholder in the privateer Governor Livingston, see vols. 6 and 8.

Docno: ADMS-06-09-02-0065

Author: Adams, John

Recipient: Lovell, James

Date: 1780-03-29

To James Lovell

[dateline] Paris Hotel de Valois Ruë de Richelieu March 29. 1780

[salute] My dear Friend

The States of the Province of Friesland, have come to a Resolution, that it was certain
that Byland was not the Aggressor, but that Fielding, had not hesitated, to make Use
of Force to visit the dutch Ships under Convoy, to stop those that were found loaded
with Hemp, and to insult the Flagg of the Republic. That this Proceeding shows, that
the Complaisance hitherto employed towards England, in depriving the ships loaded
with Masts and ship timber, of the Protection of the State, in leaving them to sail
alone and without Convoy, has had no Effect: and consequently the States judge that
a similar Condescention, ought no longer to take Place: but on the Contrary, all Merchandizes
whatsoever, which the Treaties do not expressly declare to be contraband, ought, without
the least difficulty, to be admitted under Convoy, and enjoy the Protection of the
state, and to this Effect, his most serene Highness ought to be requested to give
orders to the Commanders of the Men of War and of the Squadrons of the Republic, to
protect, as heretofore, all Merchandizes. This Resolution was taken 29 Feb. and laid
before the states General, who, after deliberating upon it determined to require the
deputies of the other Provinces, to obtain as soon as possible the Decisions of the
other Provinces, upon the same subject. Thus two Provinces Holland and Friesland have
decided for unlimited Convoys.

Sir Joseph Yorke, on the 21. of March laid before their High Mightinesses another
Memoire insisting on the Aid, which he had demanded before, upon Condition, in Case
of Refusal, that his Master would after 3 Months, consider all Treaties between the
two Nations as null.1

In short it looks as if England would force the Dutch into the War, but if they take
a Part it will be certainly for Us. Oh that Laurens was there. Oh that Laurens was
there! <Oh that I was Home>

This will go by Mr. Izard, if the Alliance comes to Philadelphia, I { 93 } must beg you to take Care of a Trunk for my Wife, which Captn. Jones will deliver
you.2

1. To this point, the text was inserted almost verbatim into JA's letter of 29 March to the president of Congress (No. 29, calendared, below). In his reference to Sir
Joseph Yorke's memorial, JA made two errors that were repeated in his letter to the president. The grace period
was to be three weeks, not three months, and, although the effect would be the same,
the treaties were to be suspended rather than nullified or abrogated. See also, Alexander
Gillon's letter of 14 March, note 2 (above).

This is a summary of a document and does not contain a transcription. If it is available
elsewhere in this digital edition, a page number link will be provided below in the
paragraph beginning "Printed."

This letter, received by Congress on 31 July and read on 1 Aug., represented John
Adams' effort, in the absence of an American representative at The Hague, to analyze
the prospects for an Anglo-Dutch war and Dutch preparations for such an eventuality.
He even reported the unfounded rumor that the Netherlands had signed a treaty with
Russia and Sweden to make their defense of neutral rights against British depredations
“a common Cause.” In support of his analysis, Adams included the portions of his letter
of 29 March to James Lovell (above) giving accounts of Friesland's resolution of 29 Feb. and
Sir Joseph Yorke's memorial of 21 March. Not in the Lovell letter, but noted here,
was Yorke's reference to the favorable Dutch treatment of John Paul Jones' squadron
at Texel in 1779 as a grievance. Finally, he cited the provisions in the Anglo-Dutch
treaty of 1667 regarding neutral commerce and contraband as evidence of the extent
to which Britain was in violation of its treaty obligations.

This is a summary of a document and does not contain a transcription. If it is available
elsewhere in this digital edition, a page number link will be provided below in the
paragraph beginning "Printed."

To the President of Congress, No. 30

Read by Congress on 11 Sept., this letter contained an account of a confrontation
in February between several corps of Irish volunteers and a body of British regulars
at Dublin that resulted in the regulars being forced to give way to the volunteers
to avoid bloodshed. Adams saw the outcome as an indication of the volunteers' confidence
in their own strength and compared the confrontation to similar ones in Boston before
the Revolution.

To the President of Congress, No. 31

I have the Honor to inclose to Congress Copies of certain Letters, { 94 } which I have had the Honor to write to the Comte de Vergennes, and of others which
I have recieved from him.1

It seems that the Presentations of the American Commissioners and Ministers Plenipotentiary
have not been inserted in the Gazette, which occasioned some Uneasiness in the Minds
of some of our Countrymen, as they thought it a neglect of Us, and a distinction between
our Sovereign and others. The inclosed Letters will explain this Matter, and show
that no Distinction has been made between Representatives of the United States and
those of other Powers.

I ought to confess to Congress that the Delicacies of the Comte de Vergennes about
communicating my Powers, are not perfectly consonant to my manner of thinking: and
if I had followed my own Judgment, I should have pursued a bolder Plan, by communicating
immediately after my Arrival, to Lord George Germain, my full Powers to treat both
of Peace and Commerce:2 but I hope Congress will approve of my communicating first to this Court my Destination,
and asking their Advice and then pursuing it, because3 I think no doubt can be made that it is my Duty to conduct my Negotiations at present
in Concert with our Ally as I have hitherto done. I have the Honor to be, with perfect
Respect, Sir, your most obedient and most humble Servant,

[signed] John Adams

RC in John Thaxter's hand (PCC, No. 84, I, f. 381–382;) docketed “No. 30 Letter from J. Adams March 30. 1780 with
3 Papers Read Septr. 11th. concerning his Presentations at Court & the announcing
of it in the Gazette of France vid Feb. 20. 25 [23] March 8.” The dates at the end of the docketing are those of letters to the president
of Congress (vol. 8: 345–347, 358–359, calendared; No. 14, above). LbC (Adams Papers;) notation by Thaxter: “No. 30 & 31. Delivered Capt. Landais 1st. April 1780.”

1. The docketing indicates that JA enclosed three “Papers,” but only Vergennes' letter of 30 March and his reply of the same date (both below), can be readily identified. Copies of those two letters appear immediately
before this letter in the PCC (No. 84, I, f. 373–374, 377–378). The third letter may have been JA's to Vergennes of 21 March (above), but JA indicated at the bottom of his Letter-book copy of the letter to Vergennes of 30 March that “all the past Leters have been sent to Congress,” making it unnecessary to include
them with this letter.

2. Although JA here indicates that he would reluctantly defer to Vergennes' wishes that he not officially
disclose his powers to the British ministry, the issue was not settled. For the renewal
of the debate between JA and Vergennes over the matter, see Editorial Note, The Dispute with the Comte de Vergennes, 13–29 July; JA to Vergennes, 17 and 26 July; Vergennes to JA, 25 July (all below).

3. At this point in the Letterbook JA deleted the following: “the Ministers of this country must be supposed in things
of this Kind to understand better than We, the Humours of Europe, and know better
how to address themselves to them. But whether this be so or not.”

Docno: ADMS-06-09-02-0069

Author: Lee, William

Recipient: Adams, John

Date: 1780-03-30

From William Lee

[dateline] Bruxelles March the 30th. 1780

[salute] Dear Sir

I have had the Honor of Receiving yours of the 21st. instant. The Name of the person
you wish to know is, the Duke of Brunswick, Brother to Prince Ferdinand, Field Marischall
and Commander in cheif of the Dutch Land Forces. He is not liked by his Family as
they conceive, he is too much attach'd to the House of Austria.1

The Quintuple Alliance that you mention, I conceive is only the conjecture of some
Politicians, for there is not in Fact, any solid appearance of the D-tch resenting
like Men, or an independent Nation, the cruel Injuries and insults, (that wou'd be
intolerable to any other People) which they have received from the English. The P[rince] of O[range] the better to deceive, and perhaps reflecting on the fate of DeWit,2 pretended to resent highly the insult offer'd to his Flag, but you will agree with
me that it must be only a pretence, when you know that Admiral Byland is to be Honorably
acquitted,3 and in consequence it is expected, that the best Capt. in the Dutch Navy will resign.4

I hope you did not construe my last into any design of drawing from you any of the
secrets of your mission, for beleive me I have no such curiosity being quite satisfied
with that information respecting it, which the World is, and has been a long time
in possession of; and besides, I know too well how extremely necessary circumspection
and secresy are to procure success to a Negotiation.

Diffidence and distrust of an Enemy is always warrantable, but particularly so, when
one has had repeated experience of their Duplicity and treachery the fatal experience
of the Dutch in the Negotiations at Geertruydenberg,5 as well as many other Examples, teach us, that distrust and resentment, shou'd not
be carried to unreasonable lengths.

A great and good Man has wisely observ'd that the best time to make Peace is, when
your Enemy wishes for it, and I hope the affairs of Ireland with vigorous and well
directed operations on our part this Campaign will reduce our Enemies to wish for
Peace in earnest before this year ends; altho' they seem to be getting the better
of the opposition at home, which it appears they are determin'd to do, either by fraud
or violence, as the papers will tell you how narrowly the Life of Ld. Shelburne has
escaped one of the Scotch Assassins.6

With infinite pleasure I shall communicate to you what informa• { 96 } tion I may receive in my retirement, of the nature you require, but I apprehend that
a few hundred pounds Sterling p. An: properly applied might procure you such intelligence
as would be worth Millions to America; for in our Enemies quarters, every thing goes
by Purchase and Sale, therefore it was high time for us to have done with them.

We have no intelligence of the arrival of Mr. Laurens, tho' there are Letters which
mention his being embarked.

The Spaniards will do well to keep a watchful Eye, on the Buccaneering Expedition
now preparing in England, against their Possessions in South America.7

I have the Honor to be with very great respect and esteem Dear Sir Your most Obedt.
Hble Servt.

1. Louis Ernst, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, was commander-in-chief of the Dutch army,
while his brother, Ferdinand, was a former Prussian field marshall, the victorious
commander at the Battle of Minden in 1758. The Duke's family probably believed that
he remained attached to Austria, as opposed to Prussia, because of prior service as
an Austrian field marshall. Their displeasure with the Duke is understandable in view
of Ferdinand's allegiance to Prussia and the fact that one of the Duke's sisters was
the wife of Frederick the Great and another the wife of Frederick's brother Charles
(Alice Clare Carter, The Dutch Republic in Europe in the Seven Years War, London, 1971, p. 27–28; Hoefer, Nouv. biog. générale).

This and the following paragraph were paraphrased and included in JA's second letter of 3 April to the president of Congress (No. 33, calendared, below).

2. John De Witt, grand pensionary from 1654 to 1672, had been assassinated when he lost
popular support in the face of a humiliating defeat by the armies of Britain and France
(Rowen, Princes of Orange, p. 126–130).

4. At this point in the Letterbook the following passage was canceled: “I agree with
you in Opinion that the Americans on this side the Ocean, Feel and Reason differently
from Our Countrymen on the other side; for the first, viz their difference of feeling
is natural and therefore easily accounted for, but their Reasoning or thinking differently
is a misfortune to be lamented, as it has already been the cause of great Mischiefs
to our Country and may possibly occasion many more. I suppose it is no secret in America.
I am sure it ought not to be one to Congress, that our Enemies had determined to treat
with us, allowing Independence for the basis, which determination were prevented from
being carried into effect; by the speedy advise they got of the Dessensions rising
in, and against Congress in the latter end of 1778.”

5. In the winter of 1709–1710, negotiations to end the War of the Spanish Succession
were held at Geertruidenberg in the Netherlands. The talks were finally broken off
in the summer of 1710, partly because the Dutch representatives insisted on terms
unacceptable to France. In 1713, faced with the withdrawal of its British ally, without
whom it would be unable to continue the war, the Netherlands was forced to accede
to the treaties of Utrecht, containing terms far less favorable than those that could
have been obtained at Geertruidenberg in 1710 (George Edmundson, History of Holland, Cambridge, England, 1922, p. 293–297).

6. In January, William Fullarton, a Scotsman and member of Parliament, submitted a plan
to the cabinet for a privateering expedition (mentioned by Lee in the final paragraph
of this letter and further described in his letter of 9 April, below) against the Spanish colonies on the western coast of South Amer• { 97 } ica by way of the Cape of Good Hope and India. When he and a friend, Thomas Mackenzie
Humberston, received commissions as lieutenant colonels to raise regiments for the
expedition, Fullarton was immediately attacked by Lord Shelburne in the House of Lords
as unqualified to hold such a command. This resulted in a duel on 22 March in which
Shelburne was wounded. The expedition was finally approved in August, but as an undertaking
by the government, rather than a private enterprise. The outbreak of war with the
Netherlands, however, caused the force to be diverted for service, first at the Cape
of Good Hope and then in India (Namier and Brooke, House of Commons, 2:475; Mackesy, War for America, p. 373, 380).

At this point in the Letterbook the following passage was canceled: “I apprehend with
you, the chief dependence is on Sir Edward Newenham relative to Irish affairs for
which reason it may be proper to inform you that his understanding is not rated very
high by his Party, who adopt their plans before he is in the Secret. I presume you
regularly receive the English Gazettes therefore it will be unnecessary to mention
what I may chance to see in them, and in my retirement, I can't often expect to get
frequent particular intelligence, but when anything material comes to my knowledge,
you may be assured of my communicating it to you immediately: however I should suppose,
that a few hundred pounds sterling per annum properly laid out, might command all
the intelligence you would wish to have.”

Lee's reference is to Sir Edward Newenham, a member of the Irish Parliament who favored
parliamentary reform (DNB). Newenham may have been mentioned by another of Lee's correspondents and when Lee
realized his mistake he canceled the passage.

7. Lee was speaking of William Fullarton's plan (see note 6), but that proposal had been
preceded by another put forth by Sir John Dalrymple, baron of the Scottish Exchequer.
It too proposed to attack the Spanish colonies from the west, across the Pacific,
but was abandoned when the government took over Fullarton's plan as its own (Mackesy, War for America, p. 373). JA made a verbatim transcription of this paragraph and enclosed it in his letter to
Gabriel de Sartine of 4 April (Arch. de la Marine, Paris, Campagnes B4, vol. 182). For Sartine's replies, see Thomas Digges' letter of 28
March, note 3 (above).

The Comte de Vergennes to John Adams: A Translation

[dateline] Versailles, 30 March 1780

I have received, sir, the letter that you did me the honor to write on the 21st of
this month. I recall very well having told you that your presentation would be inserted
in the Gazette de France. But further investigation has convinced me that never have the presentations of
either ambassadors or ministers plenipotentiary been announced in our Gazette, so that to do so in your case would indicate an unwarranted partiality.1 As an alternative, if you wish, I will have it mentioned in the Mercure de France, and you can, without any inconvenience, undertake to have it repeated in the foreign
gazettes.

[salute] I have the honor to be very sincerely, sir, your very humble and very obedient servant.

[signed] De Vergennes

P.S. I enclose a draft of the article that I propose to insert in the Mercure. I will not send it until you have given me your opinion.

1. The Gazette de France was the official journal of the French government. An announcement in the Gazette of JA's mission and his presentation to the King, especially if such represented a sharp
departure from past practice, would have carried the implication that France, as well
as the United States, was eager to initiate peace negotiations. In early 1780 such
an inference would have been wrong, particularly in view of France's obligations to
Spain. No such implication would be attached to such a notice in the Mercure de France. That publication, ostensibly a literary journal, had a section paginated separately
from the rest of the issue and entitled “Journal Politique de Bruxelles.” This section,
although controlled by the French foreign ministry and edited by Edmé Jacques Genet
as the successor to his Affaires de l'Angleterre et de l'Amerique, had no overt connection with the French government and thus no status as an official
purveyor of French policy.

Docno: ADMS-06-09-02-0070-0002-0002

Author: Vergennes, Charles Gravier, Comte de

Recipient: Adams, John

Date: 1780-03-30

Enclosure: A Draft of an Article: A Translation

Mr. Adams, whom the Congress of the United States of America has appointed to participate
in the peace conferences whenever they may occur, arrived here sometime ago and has
had the honor of being presented to the King and the royal family.1

1. This notice, which appeared virtually without change in the 8 April issue of Mercure de France, “Journal Politique de Bruxelles” (p. 88), was the second of two very different versions
considered for publication. The first, in the form of a canceled draft, reads “Le
S. Adams a été présenté au Roi le [] de ce mois. Le Congrés l'avois nommé eventuellement, Plenipotentiaire pour prendre
part aux négociation de paix qui parois• { 99 } soiens devoir s'ouvir sous la mediation de Sa Majesté Catholique, et il a fixé son
séjour à Paris en attendant que la circonstance le mettens en mesure de [] faire usage de se plenipouvoir” (Arch. Aff. Etr., Paris, Corr. Pol., E.-U., vol. 11). Translation: Mr. Adams has been presented to the King the[]of this month. The Congress has named him eventual plenipotentiary to take part in
the peace negotiation which will take place under the mediation of His Catholic Majesty
[the King of Spain], and he has established himself at Paris in the expectation that
circumstances will permit him to make use of his full powers.

The first draft is worded very curiously. JA's powers were eventual only in the sense that they became operative when and if Great
Britain agreed to negotiate a peace treaty with the United States and to recognize
it as sovereign and independent in advance of negotiations. The beginning of negotiations
under the mediation of the King of Spain had no bearing on JA's powers, for they did not contemplate or permit his participation in a mediation
by Spain or any other power.

By 30 March, Vergennes knew the full extent of JA's powers. Conrad Alexandre Gérard had included JA's instructions in a letter of 14 Aug. 1779, that Vergennes had received on 6 Nov.
(Gérard, Despatches and Instructions, p. 846–850).

Docno: ADMS-06-09-02-0071

Author: Adams, John

Recipient: Vergennes, Charles Gravier, Comte de

Date: 1780-03-30

To the Comte de Vergennes

[dateline] Paris March 30th 1780 Hotel de Valois Rue de Richelieu

[salute] Sir

I have the honour of your Excellency's letter of this day, in answer to mine of the
21st. of this month. Untill the receipt of it, I had taken it for granted that the
presentation of every Ambassador was regularly inserted in the Gazette of France;
and untill very lately, several days since the date of my letter to your Excellency
of the 21st. of this month, I had supposed that the presentations of Ministers Plenipotentiary
were constantly inserted likewise. The information that your Excellency has given
me, that the presentations neither of Ambassadors nor Ministers Plenipotentiary have
ever been inserted, has perfectly satisfied me, and I doubt not will equally satisfy
my Countrymen who have heretofore been under the same mistake with myself. I approve
very much your Excellency's proposition of inserting my presentation, in the Mercury
of France, and I shall take measures to have it repeated in the foreign gazettes.1 I have the honour to be with the most entire consideration your Excellency's most
obedient and most humble Servant,

[signed] John Adams

RC in Francis Dana's hand (Arch. Aff. Etr., Paris, Corr. Pol., E.-U., vol. 11;) endorsed: “30 Mars Article a ete envoyé au Mercure.” LbC (Adams Papers;) notation by John Thaxter: “N.B. all the past Letters have been sent to Congress.”
That is, all of the letters exchanged with Vergennes since JA arrived at Paris.

1. Although JA states that he is satisfied with the announcement to be inserted in the Mercure de France, his letters of 2 April to Jeremiah Allen, John Bondfield (first letter), Edmund Jenings (and note 1), and William Lee (all below) indicate that he did not believe the announcement in the Mercure to be explicit enough concerning his powers to negotiate. For the clearest indication
of JA's rejection of the Mercure piece as a guide for announcements in “foreign gazettes,” see his letter to Jenings
of 2 April (and note 1, be• { 100 } low), which formed the basis for the announcements that appeared in various London
newspapers during the second week of April.

Docno: ADMS-06-09-02-0072

Author: Adams, John

Recipient: Lee, Arthur

Date: 1780-03-31

To Arthur Lee

[dateline] Paris March 31st. 1780

[salute] Dear Sir

I have recieved your's of the 26th, and that of the 15th. of this Month. I inclose
a Copy of the Letter You desire.1

Mr. Garnier is gone into the Country, and I have not seen him since I arrived here.
Mr. Iz. however has seen him and will give You a satisfactory Account of what he says.2

If I were to apply to the other Gentleman,3 You know what would be the Consequence. It would fly very soon to you know where,4 and I should have only the Credit of meddleing unnecessarily with Disputes, which
I have kept out of, as much as I could, and which it is certainly now the public Interest
and consequently my Duty to keep out of as much as I can. I had therefore rather be
excused. The Gentleman himself would probably give You the same Answer to a Letter
from You directly to him, as he would give to me, unless I should use Arts with him,
which would be unworthy of You as well as me, and which I cannot use with any Body.

I shall have enough to do to steer my little Bark, among the Rocks and Shoals. I shall
have perplexities enough of my own which I cannot avoid, and Dangers too. These I
shall meet with a steady Mind, and perhaps none of them will be greater than that
which I think my Duty of avoiding things that dont belong to me.

Scarcely ever any Minister executed a Commission for making Peace, without ruining
his own Reputation, in a free Government. No Minister that ever existed had a more
difficult and dangerous Peace to make, than I have.5 Add to this, we who are and have been in Trusts abroad are all envied. I shall be
envied more than any other. To be Minister at the Court of St. James's, is an Object
that will tempt Numbers who would not care much about any other. Nothing less than
this is the Amount of my present Commission. I was not envied when shipwrecked in
the Gulf Stream, nor when chased for forty eight hours by three British Men of War
at a time, nor when sailing in a Ship that leaked seven feet of Water in an hour,
nor when devoured with Vermin, among Mules and Swine upon the Mountains of Gallicia:
but the Idea of my residing in London, and approaching the exalted Steps of the British
Throne, I know can never be patiently born by some People.

The Malice and Madness of the British Court, however, will protect me from this Envy
a long Time; perhaps longer than my Constituents will confide to me the Trust. But
the Idea of my having such a Trust, the thought that so much Confidence is now placed
in me, will naturally stir Passions enough, to make me take Care, how I conduct myself,
and particularly to keep out of the Departments of others, and above all from meddling
in personal Disputes, that have no Relation to mine.

The Gentleman6 you mention has hitherto been very still, but he has been well recieved, by all that
I have learnt.

[salute] Adieu

[signed] John Adams

RC in John Thaxter's hand (Adams Papers.) LbC (Adams Papers;) notation by Thaxter: “Delivered Capt. Landais 1st of April 1780. Hotel de Valois
Rue Richelieu.” For an explanation of how this letter came to be in the Adams Papers, see Arthur Lee to JA, 10 Oct. 1778, descriptive note (vol. 7:127–128).

1. The enclosure has not been found, but see Lee's letter of the 15th, and note 1 (above).

2. This and the following paragraph refer to Lee's dispute with William Carmichael. See
Lee's letters of 15 March, note 2 (above), and 12 April (below).

5. The remainder of this paragraph and all of that which follows do not appear in this
letter as edited by Jared Sparks (Diplomatic Correspondence of the American Revolution, 12 vols., Boston, 1829–1830, 4:448–449), CFA (JA, Works, 7:142), and Francis Wharton (Dipl. Corr. Amer. Rev., 3:584). JA's statement is the first indication that he saw his commission as establishing him
as the likely American minister to Great Britain and that the opening of negotiations
for treaties of peace and commerce would confirm him as such in fact.

To Jeremiah Allen

[dateline] Paris <March> April 2 1780

[salute] Dear Sir

Last night I received yours of the 27 of March from Libourne, which gave me great
Pleasure, and relieved my Mind from a Burthen as I had been under Anxiety least you
should have been sick, as I had made many Enquiries after you, and could hear nothing,
not even where you was. Mr Thaxter never received your letter.

The Report you mention is but one of a Million lies, that are circulated by Artfull
People for various Purposes. I have had particular Reasons for concealing my public
Character hitherto, but you knew it sufficiently before you came from America, altho
you never knew it from me. But I have now no longer any Reasons for secreting my Mission.
I have the Honour to be, a Minister Plenipotentiary from the United States of America
vested with full Powers, to treat and agree, with the Ambassadors or Plenipotentiaries
of France England, { 102 } or any other states whom it may concern, relating to the Reestablishment of Peace1 and have had the Honour, in this Character to be presented to the King and Royal
Family at Versailles. There is no other Person in Europe who can make a Peace on behalf
of America, and you may be assured, and so may all who enquire of you, that I have
not made Peace, and that I shall not and cannot make Peace untill France <and England> shall do the same.2 You may assure them too that Congress have not, because England has never empowerd
any body to treat with them, and if she had or should,3 congress could not make Peace without France. You will make a discreet Use of this
Letter. Direct for me, a l'hotel de Valois Ruë de Richelieu, a Paris. Pray write me,
the Productions, Manufactures, Commerce and Remarkables of the Place where you are.

I hope soon to have the Pleasure of seeing you in Paris, and showing you some of its
Curiosities. I am with great Regard, sir your most obt. servant.

To John Bondfield

[dateline] Paris Hotel de Valois Ruë de Richelieu April 2d. 1780

[salute] Dear Sir

I have had particular Reasons, which rendered it my Duty, to say little about my Mission
to Europe, until lately, when these Reasons were all removed, by the settlements of
certain Points, needless to mention.

I am now therefore at Liberty to inform You that I have the Honor to be a Minister
Plenipotentiary from the United States of America, vested with full Powers to treat
and conclude with the Ambassadors and Plenipotentiaries of France, England, and all
other States whom it may concern, the Great Work of Pacification.1

I took this Method, Sir, to inform You of this that You may obviate the idle and designing
Reports that are propagated, at Bordeaux, I hear,2 as well as in other places, that America has or intends to make Peace seperately,
than which nothing can be more false and injurious.

My Embassy was not the Effect of any sudden Elevation or depression of Spirits, any
sanguine Hopes or desponding Fears, arising from any Incidents in the Course of the
War, prosperous or adverse, but { 103 } the Result of long deliberations upon a plan of Policy, which had been more than a
Year under Consideration of Congress. It was thought to be necessary to have a Minister
in Europe, whose business it should be to think of Peace, to hear all propositions
that should be made, tending to that great and desirable End, and empowered to enter
into Conferences, Negotiations and Treaties without Loss of Time, whenever the Belligerent
Powers should be disposed to them.

In this public Character I have had the Honor to be presented to the King and Royal
Family, at Versailles on the seventh day of last Month, which is the more proper to
be mentioned to You, because I have recieved from the Comte de Vergennes, an Account,
in a Letter3 of the Reason why it was not inserted in the Gazette of France, vizt. that it was
the established Custom, never to insert in the Gazette the presentation neither of
Ambassadors nor Ministers Plenipotentiary, which is also the Reason why the presentation
of Dr. Franklin and Mr. Lee were not inserted.4 I can rely upon your Discreetion to make no Use of this Letter that will be hurtful
to the public, or your most obedient humble Servant.

To John Bondfield

[dateline] Paris Hotel de Valois Ruë de Richelieu April 2d. 1780

[salute] Dear Sir

I have Occasion for a Cask of Bordeaux Wine, of the very best Quality, such as You
sent Us, when I was at Passy.1 I wish You would be so good, as to send it me, as soon as possible, as I am in great
distress for want of it, having none, and being able to get none so good for daily
Consumption. Your Bill for the Money shall be paid punctually.

Another favor I have to ask of You, and that is a list of the various Sorts of Bordeaux
Wines, their Names, Qualities and Prices, and what is the difference between the Price
of new Wine and old of each Sort, per Ton, what Quantity there is in a Ton—per Hogshead
or Pipe and what Quantity there is ordinarily in each.2

1. See Bondfield's letter of 3 Oct. 1778 to the Commissioners (vol. 7:103–104).

2. Using almost identical language, JA asked for the same information in letters of this date to B. de Cabarrus Jeune, a
Bordeaux merchant, and to William Vernon Jr. (both LbC's, Adams Papers). JA's only significant addition to those letters was his statement that he had “particular
Reasons for making this Inquiry and to request exact Information.” Cabarrus and Bondfield
replied on 8 and 12 April respectively (both below), but Vernon's reply, which JA acknowledged in a letter of 15 April (LbC, Adams Papers), has not been found.

Docno: ADMS-06-09-02-0076

Author: Adams, John

Recipient: Jenings, Edmund

Date: 1780-04-02

To Edmund Jenings

[dateline] Paris April 2. 1780

[salute] Dear Sir

After Settling a Point or two here, I now think myself at Liberty to inform you, that
I have indeed the Honour, to be a Minister plenipotentiary from the United States
of America, “vested with full Powers and Instructions to confer, treat, agree and
conclude with the Ambassadors or Plenipotentiaries of his most christian Majesty and
of his Britannic Majesty, and those of any other Princes or states, whom it may concern,
vested with equal Powers, relating to the Reestablishment of Peace and Friendship,
and whatever shall be so agreed and concluded to Sign, and make a Treaty or Treaties
and to transact every Thing that may be necessary for compleating, the great Work
of Pacification.”1 This you may affirm, without making Use of my Name as your Authority, at present
unless to particular Friends.

My Mission was not the Effect of any sudden Joy or Sorrow, Hope or fear arising from
any Event of War prosperous or Adverse: but a measure more than a year under Consideration
of Congress, and it was thought very proper to have a Minister residing in Europe,
Solely for the Purpose of attending to Propositions for Peace. Their Deliberations
were long upon the Commission and Instructions, which were at last concluded, and
the Choice to my utter astonishment fell upon me, by the Votes of Eleven states, twelve
only being present.

This Unanimity, after all the Struggles and Divisions about our foreign Affairs, and
the Certainty of still greater Divisions, which I was assured would be the Consequence
of my Refusal, determined Me, to put myself once more to sea from a quiet and an happy
Harbour. It is a situation that is and will be envyed. And I have Seen enough of what
there is in human Bosoms to know that Envy is a formidable Ennemy. It is however more
justly to be dreaded than envyed. I assure you it appalls me, when I reflect upon
it. The Immensity of the Trust, is too great for every Thing but an honest { 105 } Heart, and for that too, without a sounder Understanding, and profounder, sublimer
and more extended Views, than I have any Pretentions too.

I should esteem it as a favour if you would take Measures, to have Some Paragraphs
inserted in the English Newspapers, announcing the Purport of my Mission. The Nature
of them I shall leave to your Discretion. I am with much affection yours,

1. Although set off by quotation marks (closing supplied), the passage is an accurate
paraphrase of a portion of JA's commission of 29 Sept. 1779 to negotiate a peace treaty (calendar entry, vol. 8:185; JA, Diary and Autobiography, 4:178–179). With minor stylistic changes and the addition of some introductory material, this
passage formed the basis for the announcements of JA's mission that appeared in various London newspapers, including the General Advertiser and Morning Intelligencer and The Morning Post and Daily Advertiser of 12 April and the London Chronicle of 11–13 April. The notice appearing in the General Advertiser was copied by John Thaxter and forms one entry in a twelve page document that JA endorsed: “Paragraphs <in> Public Prints”; and which contains items from various British and continental newspapers
for the period from 5 April to 4 July. Immediately following the piece from the General Advertiser of 12 April, Thaxter copied another that appeared on 13 April in the same paper.
“We can venture to assure the Public from respectable Authority, that Mr. Adams, the
Minister Plenipotentiary from the United States of America to the Court of France,
is not arrived in Europe for the purpose of offering Terms to Great Britain; and that
he has only recieved Instructions to listen, conjunctively with France, to the Overtures
of the King of England and his Ministers for Peace.” On 18 April the General Advertiser again commented on JA's mission in an article copied by Thaxter and of which a clipping is in the Adams Papers (Microfilms, Reel No. 604). There, after noting that the declining position of Great
Britain vis-à-vis the European powers made peace a necessity, the author stated that
“we have the fullest authority to declare, that the paragraph in the public prints,
mentioning the powers with which Mr. Adams, the Minister from the United States to
the Court of France, is absolutely invested, ought to be relied on as a certain fact.
Time will soon discover, whether it be the inclination of those who govern us to put
a period to the national calamities, or to increase them beyond the hope of remedy.”
For a possible explanation for these additional statements regarding JA's status, see Edmund Jenings' letter of 24 April, note 3 (below).

Docno: ADMS-06-09-02-0077

Author: Adams, John

Recipient: Lee, William

Date: 1780-04-02

To William Lee

[dateline] Paris Hotel de Valois Ruë de Richelieu April 2d. 1780

[salute] Dear Sir

Your Favour of the 30th. of March, is just come to Hand, and I thank you for it.

I did not <Suspect> construe any Thing in your last into a design of drawing from me, any of the Secrets
of my mission, indeed there is no secret in it, but my Instructions, which will I
hope <forever> remain so, untill they are executed if that time should ever come.

I have had Reasons, however for saying nothing till now, about my Commission, but
those Reasons exist no more. I have indeed the { 106 } Honour to be Minister Plenipotentiary, with full Powers with the Ambassadors or Ministers
from France and Great Britain and all other Princes and states whom it may concern,
to enter into Conferences Negotiations and Treaties for Peace.

When our Ennemy will wish for Peace, So far as to think of it in earnest I know not.
Peace concerns her more than any of the belligerent Powers. America, even, can Sustain
the War, although it will be irksome and greivous, infinitely better than England.

America grows more powerful, more numerous, more brave, and better disciplined every
Year of the War, and more independant too both in Spirit and Circumstances. Their
Trade it is true does not flourish as it did, but their Agriculture Arts, and Manufactures
increase in Proportion to the decline of their Trade. England is wasting away, not
withstanding the violence of her convulsive Struggles, both in Wealth in Commerce,
in Manufactures, in Sailors Soldiers Population <and every Thing else. Nothing[ . . . ]> and above all in political Consideration among the Powers of Europe, every day. Her
Reputation1 which is a more durable Source of Power, and a more constant Cause of Prosperity,
to states as well as individuals, declines amidst all her Activity, Exertions and
successes. The Hopes and Fears of other Nations are turning by degrees from her to
other People, and these She will find it harder to regain than even the good Will
of America, which is also leaving her, every day. The English2 Nation dont seem to me to <consider> see any thing in its true Light or weigh any thing in a just ballance. The Points
already gained by Ireland, dont appear to be understood in England in their Consequences.
If she should carry the other Points she aims at, she will become a dangerous Rival
to G. B. in Trade, and even in political Power, and dangerous to her even in military.
And she must and will carry those Points if this War is continued. Yet the predominant
<Passion> Temper, drowns all, in England. Their Pride, Revenge and Habits of domineering will
not suffer them to listen to any Thing that does not sooth those lively Passions.

The Fury that appears among the Members of Paliament, convinces me that the opposition
is more formidable than you Seem to think it. The Committees go on, and, altho I dont
found my Expectations, upon Characters that now appear, I know that those Committees
will bring up others to public View, who will do the Work. When a society gets disturbed
Men of Great Talents and great Qualities are always found, or made.

I wish you had been more particular concerning the Buccaneering { 107 } Expedition, which you say is preparing in England against the Spanish Possessions
in S. America.

Nothing from America, nor from Mr Laurens. Adieu

I think I am perfectly sure of my self, that I shall never be led much astray by my
Resentment against the English however Strong they may have been, and however justly
founded. Distrust of them I have, quite seperate from all Resentment, So fixed by
20 Years incessant Attention to their Policy, that it is very possible they may be
in earnest about Terms of Peace, before I shall beleive it. But this Error I hope
will do neither them nor me any harm.3

This is a summary of a document and does not contain a transcription. If it is available
elsewhere in this digital edition, a page number link will be provided below in the
paragraph beginning "Printed."

In this letter, which was read in Congress on 11 Sept., John Adams began by observing
that while “the Fermentation in England” had alarmed the ministry and influenced some
members of the House of Commons, he thought it was largely due to the impending election.
Adams then provided the texts of resolutions adopted by the meetings of the county
and city associations at St. Alban's Tavern from 11 to 20 March (see JA to the president of Congress, 23 March, No. 23, note 3, above) and those adopted on 15 and 19 March by the Westminster committee. The St.
Alban's resolutions served to justify a general association for parliamentary reform,
those of the Westminster committee focused on the inequities of parliamentary representation.
Adams indicated that he had included the texts of the resolutions because he believed
the association movement to be of great importance and that if wisdom and virtue prevailed,
its objectives would be accomplished, thereby bringing fundamental change to the government
and policies of Great Britain. If the movement was unsuccessful, however, Adams believed
that it would “probably be the last rational Effort made in favor of Liberty, and
Despotism will range at large.” Furthermore, if George III concluded an immediate
peace, the movements in England and Ireland would lose momentum and his conflicts
with the Netherlands and Spain would largely disappear. If he continued the war and
was successful, at least his problems in England and Ireland would be dissipated.
But if he continued the war and was unsuccessful, “the new Sovereignty will probably
prevail against him, after involving the three Kingdoms in Confusion and in Blood.”

This is a summary of a document and does not contain a transcription. If it is available
elsewhere in this digital edition, a page number link will be provided below in the
paragraph beginning "Printed."

To the President of Congress, No. 33

John Adams began this letter, which was read in Congress on 10 July, by paraphrasing
the first portion of William Lee's letter of 30 March (above), regarding the Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel and the Netherlands. He then
provided English translations of a petition of 25 Feb. to the States General calling
for the outfitting of fifty-two warships; Sir Joseph Yorke's memorial of 21 March
demanding that the States General reply within three weeks to his previous memorials
for support of Great Britain's war efforts, or face suspension of the Anglo-Dutch
treaties insofar as they related to neutral commerce; the States General's reply of
24 March requesting additional time; and a paraphrase of Yorke's rejoinder that he
was unable to satisfy that request.

This is a summary of a document and does not contain a transcription. If it is available
elsewhere in this digital edition, a page number link will be provided below in the
paragraph beginning "Printed."

To the President of Congress, No. 34

Paris, 4 April 1780. RC in John Thaxter's hand (PCC, No. 84, I, f. 405–408). printed: various American newspapers, including the Pennsylvania Gazette of 12 July and the Boston Independent Chronicle of 3 Aug. 1780.

In this letter, which was read in Congress on 10 July, John Adams paraphrased the
resolutions praising Henry Grattan for his efforts on behalf of Ireland in the Irish
Parliament adopted at a meeting of Dublin merchants on about 20 March. He then noted
a proposal made in Dublin to raise funds for warships to give Irish shipping the protection
which the British were neglecting to provide, and reported the speculation that this
effort could lead to an Irish navy. Adams also included the texts of Grattan's reply
of 24 March in which he vowed to continue his efforts to modify Poyning's Law; the
reply of Luke Gardner, member of the Irish Parliament for Dublin, to his instructions
in which he promised to work to modify Poyning's Law; and the reply of Edward Newenham,
another member from Dublin, to the same effect. Adams ended by apologizing for “stating
so particularly proceedings, which must have such momentous Consequences. These are
foundations of another Revolution, and will effect a total Independence of Ireland
on England. If England should resist these demands, and at the same Time continue
the War with America and the House of Bourbon, Congress may have an Ambassador at
the Court or Congress of Ireland, in a very short Time.”

RC in John Thaxter's hand
(PCC, No. 84, I, f. 405–408.)
printed:
(various American newspapers, including the Pennsylvania Gazette of 12 July and the Boston Independent Chronicle of 3 Aug. 1780.)

Docno: ADMS-06-09-02-0081

Author: Adams, John

Recipient: Huntington, Samuel

Recipient: President of Congress

Date: 1780-04-04

This is a summary of a document and does not contain a transcription. If it is available
elsewhere in this digital edition, a page number link will be provided below in the
paragraph beginning "Printed."

To the President of Congress, No. 35

Paris, 4 April 1780. RC in John Thaxter's hand (PCC, No. 84, I, f. 409–410). printed: various American newspapers, including the Pennsylvania Gazette of 12 July and the Boston Independent Chronicle of 3 Aug. 1780.

In this letter, which was read in Congress on 10 July, John Adams provided { 109 } the text of a resolution adopted by the City of London on 22 March concerning the
maintenance of a correspondence with the various committees named by the counties,
cities, and towns regarding the general association.

RC in John Thaxter's hand
(PCC, No. 84, I, f. 409–410.)
printed:
(various American newspapers, including the Pennsylvania Gazette of 12 July and the Boston Independent Chronicle of 3 Aug. 1780.)

Docno: ADMS-06-09-02-0082

Author: Adams, John

Recipient: Huntington, Samuel

Recipient: President of Congress

Date: 1780-04-04

This is a summary of a document and does not contain a transcription. If it is available
elsewhere in this digital edition, a page number link will be provided below in the
paragraph beginning "Printed."

In this letter, which was read in Congress on 10 July, John Adams related a report
from Malaga concerning an unprovoked attack on the Swedish frigate Illerim by an English privateer from Minorca, which resulted in the death of the frigate's
captain.

This is a summary of a document and does not contain a transcription. If it is available
elsewhere in this digital edition, a page number link will be provided below in the
paragraph beginning "Printed."

To the President of Congress, No. 37

In this letter, received by Congress on 19 Feb. 1781, John Adams provided Congress
with a substantial extract from Sir James Marriott's decision in the case of La Sybellina Hillegonda, one of the Dutch vessels seized by Como. Charles Fielding from the convoy under
the protection of Adm. van Bylandt. Marriott condemned the ship because the convoy
of the vessel to a French port and the resistance put up by van Bylandt violated the
existing Anglo-Dutch treaties, but also because necessity required that neutral vessels
carrying naval stores to an enemy port be stopped regardless of any treaty provision.
Adams included a list of the other Dutch vessels, with a summary of their cargoes,
seized and condemned for the same reasons.

From Thomas Digges

[dateline] London April 6. 1780

[salute] Dr. Sir

I have wrote you by Common post the 20th1 and 28th of last Month, and Capt Cozeneau,2 whom you know something of, and who goes to Dr. F on the business of the Cartel which
He conducted from Boston to Pensance gives me an oppertunity of sending this letter,
to gether with the news papers of the day and some pamphlets and papers which may
open to you a little of the state of politicks here. I wish your attention to the
Pamphlet entitled “A memorial to the Sovereigns of Europe on the state of Affairs
between the old and New World.” It is the production of Govr. Pownall who with many
specious { 110 } appearances too frequently acts and writes under the all-powerful sunshine of Ministry.
I have directed the parcell to Dr. F and desird Him to send them to you after perusal,
my present confind circumstances induces me to be thus aeconomical or I would send
you duplicates.3

The movements among the people of this Country as to Assosiations Committees of Correspondence,
meeting of the Deputies &c. &c., still continue and go on with Spirit, but I do not
discover any common principle of Union left in the Minds of the People, which can
be made a foundation of Union, and bind them together against the terrors and allurements of the Court. The People
in general seem bent upon a reform in the Constitution and representation, and so
great a majority seem to speak for triennial, that I do not think there will be another septennial parliament in England. These
movements and the critical state of Affairs in Ireland embarrass Ministry and the
Torey party very much, and I think it cannot fail of being in a great measure servicable
to Us; for 'tho the pride and haughtiness of many of the active leaders of the popular
party may be averse to or displeasd with the declard and absolute Independence of
America, there are very many worthy and high Characters among them who wish it most
cordially; and I am sure there is a universal wish among the People for giving up
the American War, and for withdrawing the Army on any terms however humiliating. I
beleive Ministry themselves have thoughts of getting away the army, but it will be
a difficult point to accomplish, and the leaving totally abandond in that Country
those Americans who call themselves friends to Gt. Britain weighs very much. Experience might point out to them that the Expence
of keeping the British Army three months in America, would give to these unhappy traitors
to the cause of their Country a handsome subsistence for life.

Even yet there is no news arrivd of Clintons Expedition tho the lye of the day is, that He made a Landing the 17 February in Georgia. The West India
fleet is yet detaind for a fair wind. There are upwards of 200 Merchantmen to be convoyd
by Commodore Walsingham with four of the Line, one frigate, one twenty Gun Ship, and two or three fire Ships. When
this fleet and those of France arrive in the West Indies it is supposd the fleets
for the summers Campaign will stand 30 or 31 English against 35 french exclusive of
Spanish.

There are strong rumours here that the last Brest fleet with troops &c. is bound to
Hallifax (some say Quebec). The Courtiers talk of that place as their destination,
and in consequence thereof Adm. { 111 } Graves will be sent with six or seven Ships (not sooner than 15 or 20 days hence)
to the North American Station.

There is not the least likelyhood that any more troops not even recruits are going
there and that there will be no Offensive operations to the North Ward.

If you have any late News papers which contain matter worthy of publication in the
Remembrancer or News papers I should be glad to have them by return of Capt Cozeneau,
sometimes American publications are very useful to be reprinted here.

I refer You to the Bearer and the Papers sent for any domestic News and am with the
greatest esteem Dr Sir Your Obedt. Servant,

[signed] T D

I should be much obligd to You to put the inclosd Letter in the post for Nantes.4

2. Capt. Isaac Cazneau had carried letters to Philadelphia for AA in 1776 and had dined with JA and others at Lorient in the spring of 1779 while JA awaited passage to America. Later he served as captain of the ship Bob, one of the two cartel ships that reached England in Dec. 1779. The Bob carried prisoners taken in the capture of two Falmouth packets (Adams Family Correspondence, 2:69, 72, 83; JA, Diary and Autobiography, 2:369–371; William Bell Clark, “In Defense of Thomas Digges,” PMHB, 77:407 [Oct. 1953]; London Chronicle, 23–25 Dec. 1779). See also Digges' letters of 3 March, and note 4 (above); and 8 June, and note 6 (below).

3. Digges sent Thomas Pownall's A Memorial Most Humbly Addressed to the Sovereigns of Europe, on the Present State
of Affairs, Between the Old and New World, London, 1780, to Benjamin Franklin with his letter of 6 April (Digges, Letters, 185–189). JA used that copy to produce his Translation of the Memorial. For the significance of JA's revision of Pownall's work and its later publication at Amsterdam and London, see
A Translation of Thomas Pownall's Memorial, 19 April – [ca. 14 July], Editorial Note (below). JA probably received the copy of Pownall's Memorial that is now in his library at the Boston Public Library as part of a package containing
newspapers and pamphlets that Digges sent on or about 25 April (Catalogue of JA's Library; from Thomas Digges, 28 April and 8 June, both below).

From Edmund Jenings

You have done me a great deal of Honour, in communicating to me the Object of your
Commission which is certainly of the most honorable and important Nature in itself,
and has been confered on you in a manner the most flattering. I sincerely Congratulate
you thereon, and most earnestly Wish, that the Envy of the Times may not Thwart your
Intentions for the publick Good, but that you may be Able to Establish to the latest
Period the Independance and Happiness of our Country and by Consequence your own Glory.

You Know, Sir, that I have long thought that such a Mission was absolutely Necessary,2 it therefore gave me great pleasure, when it was first suggested, by common report,
that it would take place, and that you was the Person, whom the Congress had adjudged
most proper to be intrusted with the dearest Interests of America. It is from Duty
to my Country and Attachment to You, that I Again offer my poor Services in this important
Business. I will take immediate Care, that your Ministry is properly announced to
the people of England, and carried to the Ear of Majesty itself, that may not plead
Ignorance of the proper Channel to peace. Perhaps I could be of Service in England
at this Juncture, if you think so, I beg to receive your Commands.

The most important and fullest Collection of Treaties is by Rousset it is entitld
Recueil historique des Actes &c. et le Corps diplomatique de Dumont avec ses Suppliments.3 I have two Volumes published by Almon, entitled a Collection of all the Treaties
of Peace, Alliance and Commerce between GB and other powers, from the Revolution 1688
to the present Times; it is an useful Compilation but defective; in particular there
is not one treaty inserted, made between GB and the Empress Queen relative to the
Succession War in 1741, and therefore I do not know of any Subsidies being then paid
to Austria, but it might be easily Known from the Parliamentary and History of England,
as England cannot well give a Subsidy, that is not public. I find however, that there
was a naval Subsidy of 200000 £ given in 1743 to Sardinia by England; and the Empress
gave to the King of Sardinia certain districts, that lay convenient for Him, the late
King of Sardinia,4 gaind much Credit by the whole of this Transaction, his Wisdom in planning and faithfulness
in Executing it were much admird.

It seems almost Unnecessary for a private person to Attempt to rouse the Dutch. The
King of England provokes and touches them so nearly every day, that if they are not
insensible Indeed, they must resent his repeatd insults and Injuries.

Enquiries have been made as to publications on these Matters in Holland and I find
it will be difficult and dangerous to take a Part therein until the States have come
to some Resolution and when they have done it it will then perhaps be Unnecessary.

I purpose to go to Boulogne de Mer for my Baggage, which I left there last Summer.
I shall return in a fortnight if in the Mean Time you have any Commands for me a Letter
directed to that Town, post restant,5 will come to Hand.

4. Jenings' information regarding this treaty was taken from John Almon's A Collection of all the Treaties of Peace, Alliance and Commerce between Great Britain
and Other Powers, 2 vols., London, 1772, 2:52–68.

This is a summary of a document and does not contain a transcription. If it is available
elsewhere in this digital edition, a page number link will be provided below in the
paragraph beginning "Printed."

To the President of Congress, No. 38

In this letter, received by Congress on 19 Feb. 1781, Adams provided accounts of the
arrival of Russian couriers at The Hague on 30 March with Catherine II's declaration
of an armed neutrality and an invitation to the Dutch to join (see JA to the president of Congress, 10 April, No. 40, below); the determination of the Turks to resist belligerent depredations
on their ships or the vessels of other nations trading with Turkish ports; and the
Russian reaction to the British attack on the Dutch convoy under the protection of
Adm. van Bylandt.

To William Carmichael

[dateline] Paris Hotel de Valois Ruë de Richelieu April 8. 1780

[salute] Sir

I have this moment, the Honour of your Letter, from Madrid of the 29 of February1 as I suppose, altho the month is not mentioned. I thank you, Sir for commencing a
Correspondence which I have Sometime wished to begin. I wrote to Mr Jay at Madrid
the 22d of February,2 and wish to know if he has received the Letter. It is certainly proper, that those
who are intrusted abroad, Should maintain a Correspondence, and cultivate a good understanding
with each other, because altho their departments are in some respects seperate yet
in others they are intimately connected together. From all that I heard in Spain,
I expected you would meet an agreable Reception at Madrid, and I am much pleased to
learn from you, that I was not mistaken.

I have sometimes wondered at the slowness of Spain, in making a { 114 } treaty with Us, but when I reflected upon a certain secret Article, my surprise ceased.
We are already bound in a Treaty to her, but she is not bound to Us.3 It would be ungenerous in her, however to hold Us, long in this situation. The Treaty
notwithstanding all that has been justly said, of the Advantages to Us, in it, is
not less advantageous to our allies. The single Article, that binds Us to exclude,
all armed Vessels of the Ennemies of our Allies in all future Wars from our Ports,4 is worth more millions, to them, than this War will cost, nay it will be a severer
loss to Great Britain, than all that she has Spent in it. Whether G. B. has considered
this or not, I dont know, but she will sometime or other discover it, and feel the
inconvenience of it.

You ask for news from America. A Vessell from Baltimore is arrived at Bourdeaux. Not
a single Letter to Dr Franklin or me. Two or three Balimore newspapers, one as late,
as 15 Feb. A hard Winter deep snows, uncommon frosts, frozen over from Connecticut
to Long Island, and from N. Jersey to Staten Island. Ld Sterling went over to Staten
Island with a Party on the Ice, burnt a few Vessells and a Guard House, took a few
Prisoners, and brought off, a few deserters. Some N. Jersey People went over at the
same time and plundered, without mercy. Finding the Communication open with N. York,
which had been supposed to be obstructed by the Ice he returned.5 An Article from a Fish Kill Paper says that Clinton and Cornwallis sailed 26 December,
with 7000 men for the W. Indies but that the Storm which happend soon after their
departure, was supposed to have done him a mischief. A ship, Brig and schooner lost
in the storm on Cape Cod, unknown who or whence, all perished. Congress had recommended
to all the states to regulate Prices at 20 for one, which by the Speculations in the
Papers, was not well liked.6 Govr Johnson a Delegate for Maryland, General Ward for Massachusetts in the room
of Mr Dana, who desires me, to return you, Compliments and respects. The other delegates
as last year. This is all the News I can recollect, having seen the Papers only a
few minutes, in a large Company.

The general State of affairs, appears very well. I see no Probability of Englands
attaining an ally. On the Contrary there are many Symptoms of an approaching Combination
of the maritime Powers, to protect neutral ships from searches and Insults. Ireland
is in the full Career of Independance. England seems determined to force Holland into
a War against her that she may have an opportunity to plunder her. The Correspondences
and Associations in England, distress the { 115 } Ministry very much, and if the War continues and they should not be very successfull,
it seems likely that they will save Us the Trouble, of dispatching them. I wish however
that France and Spain were more convinced of the Advantages they have in America and
the West Indies. The more ships they send into those seas, the more they force England
to send there. The more she sends there the weaker she is in Europe, and the less
she is dreaded and respected. Holland Ireland, the opposition in England, and the
other maritime Powers, all feel a Confidence rising in proportion to the diminution
of British naval Force in Europe. Besides the innumerable Advantages, the french and
Spaniards have in supporting the War in the American Seas over the English, which
they have not in Europe. But I am apprehensive of being tedious. My Compliments to
Mr Jay, and his family. I am with much respect, your most obedt. & humble st.

1. In that letter Carmichael proposed a correspondence with JA, reported on his hospitable reception by Spanish officials at Madrid and the Spanish
war effort, and asked JA to send him any news from America (Adams Papers).

3. JA is referring to the “Act Separate and Secret,” signed on 6 Feb. 1778 in conjunction
with the Franco-American treaties of alliance and commerce (Miller, ed., Treaties, 2:45–46). The “Act” provided for Spain's accession to the treaties whenever it “shall
judge proper.” This commitment was and continued to be one-sided, for in discussions
with American representatives Spain never obligated itself to form a treaty connection
with the United States or even to recognize American independence.

Although there is no indication that he had any knowledge of its content, specific
or otherwise, JA might just as well have been referring to an article of the secret Convention of
Aranjuez, signed by France and Spain on 12 April 1779. The provisions of that agreement,
which brought Spain into the war and set down the war aims of the two nations, conflicted
with those of the Franco-American treaties on several points, but from the standpoint
of JA's concern over the lack of a quid pro quo the most important article would have been that obligating France to continue the
war until Gibraltar had been returned to Spain. Taken in conjunction with the prohibition
against a separate peace in the Franco-American Treaty of Alliance, this meant that
no Anglo-American peace treaty could be concluded until Gibraltar had been conquered,
while Spain had no obligation either to recognize American independence or to make
such recognition a sine qua non of a peace settlement (Henri Doniol, ed., Histoire de la participation de la France à l'établissement des Etats-Unis d'Amérique, 5 vols., Paris, 1886–1899, 3:803–810; Miller, ed., Treaties, 2:38–39).

4. JA could be referring to either Art. 17 or Art. 22 of the Franco-American Treaty of
Amity and Commerce (Miller, ed., Treaties, 2:16–17, 19–20).

5. The attack by an American force under the command of William Alexander, Lord Stirling,
occurred on 15 January. The report in the Baltimore paper was presumably taken from
Stirling's report to George Washington of 16 Jan., which Washington sent to Congress
on the 18th (PCC, No. 152, VIII, f. 347–350; JCC, 16:74). JA sent essentially the same information to Thomas Digges in a letter of 6 April (LbC, Adams Papers).

6. This recommendation was contained in resolutions adopted on 19 Nov. 1779. The proposed
regulations were to go into effect on 1 Feb. 1780 (JCC, 15:1289–1293).

Docno: ADMS-06-09-02-0088

Author: Adams, John

Recipient: Huntington, Samuel

Recipient: President of Congress

Date: 1780-04-08

This is a summary of a document and does not contain a transcription. If it is available
elsewhere in this digital edition, a page number link will be provided below in the
paragraph beginning "Printed."

B. de Cabarrus Jeune to John Adams: A Translation

[dateline] Bordeaux, 8 April 1780

[salute] Sir

I have received the letter that your Excellency did me the honor to write of 2 April.1 I am very grateful for the compliments you were kind enough to bestow on me and the
regard that you have for my opinions. I will always be very happy to find occasion
to be useful to you.

Your Excellency requested an account of the different qualities of wine in this province.
We have numerous varieties, which greatly differ according to the soil from which
they come.

The wines suitable for America are those of the Palus, Mondferrand, Ambés and adjoining
areas. They sell this year at from 180 to 240 per tun, each tun composed of 4 barrels, and each barrel containing 250 bottles in
Parisian measure. These wines are too harsh and cloudy for ordinary consumption, but
will clear up and improve during the voyage to America.

The wines from Graves are lighter and more delicate, but can also withstand an ocean
voyage. They sell this year at 60 to 80 ecus2 per tun, with some older wine at 400 to 600 per tun.

The white wines of Graves are highly esteemed and are sold new from 240 to 300 per tun. Those of 3, 4, 5, and 6 years are worth 500 to 800.

The white wines of Sauterne of the first growth cost, when young, 300 per tun, at which price I have just bought some. Those from 5 to 10 years old sell
from 600 to 1,000 per tun.

The old wines of Medoc, from Haut Brion, St. Julien, or Chateau Margaux and drinkable
only after 4, 5, or 6 years would cost 1,200 to 1,800 per tun, depending on the growth. The old wine of Saint Emilion costs 600 to 1,000 per tun. There are some growths that are not so well-known, but which provide excellent
wines. The new Medoc wines of this year are a good vintage and are selling at 400
to 600 per tun, but the need to maintain them for 5 or 6 years, until they are drinkable,
makes them very expensive. If the wine I had the honor to send your Excellency for
his trip and which is the first growth of St. Julien, 1775, was judged good, I could
get you more, at 1,500 per tun or 35s per bottle, the price of the glass bottle included. The owner still
has about 20 tuns left, which might be sold before receiving your Excellency's reply.
Just give me an idea of the price range within which you are willing to purchase your
wines and I will get you the best value, without sacrificing quality.

The white wines of Sauterne, Preignac, and Barsac are of nearly the same quality and
have the taste of liqueur. Through aging, they acquire the flavor and color of Canary
Island wines. The white wine from Graves is drier and does not redden like the others,
usually having the color of laurel. The wine can be shipped in cases of 50 bottles
each, the usual practice for that going to Paris, and in this condition should arrive
without being damaged in transit. It will cost 10 to 13 per quintal, depending upon the availability of transportation. In the Entre Deux
Mers, the region between the Garonne and Dordogne Rivers, there are many little white
wines, sold in the north, at from 50 to 60 ecus per tun, and which would be excellent
wines for North America. They taste good and keep for a long time.3

I took the liberty of informing your Excellency of the misfortune which befell my
vessel Le Souci at Portsmouth. Mr. Sabatier and Mr. Dupréx, who also were interested in this expedition,
may already have spoken to you about it and requested your support in our dispute
with Mr. Simeon Deane who { 119 } supervised the cargo of this vessel. I hope that your Excellency will have the goodness
to interest himself in this matter so that justice will be done.4

[salute] I am, with respect, Sir, your excellency's very humble and obedient servant,

2. At the bottom of the page is a note: “lecu de 3.” It indicates that here, and in the fourth paragraph below. Cabarrus is quoting
his price in terms of the half ecu of three livres tournois.

3. Cabarrus' account of wine production in Bordeaux provides an excellent example of
French wine classification in terms of both quality and price. Such information was
codified by Napoleon III in 1855 and in later classifications (Alexis Lichine, Guide to the Wines and Vineyards of France, N.Y., 1979, p. 15–101). See also John Bondfield's letter of 12 April (below).

4. No information regarding either the vessel Le Souci or the transaction between Simeon Deane and the Paris mercantile firm of Sabatier
Fils & Despréx (Deprés or Depréz) has been found, but see JA's reply of 13 April (below).

Docno: ADMS-06-09-02-0090

Author: Lee, William

Recipient: Adams, John

Date: 1780-04-09

From William Lee

[dateline] Bruxelles Apl. 9th. 1780

[salute] Dear Sir

I thank you for your favor of the 2d. instant. The Commission you have is certainly
very highly important and Honorable, and I doubt not of your executing it properly;
taking care that the shafts of envy and malice, which have already began to show themselves,
shall not divert your attention from the great object you have in view, which I have
no reason to think at present will be speedily accomplish'd.

The well known chicane and duplicity of our Enemies will surely well warrant a fix'd
determination not to treat on the most trivial point unless it is in writing.

The Buccaneering expedition I meant, is that preparing under Fullarton. I understand
it is to be composed of about 1000 Soldiers and 3 Ships of 40 Guns; a French East
India prize is already purchased to be fitted out for this purpose.1

You say very truely that, “when a Society gets disturb'd, Men of great Talents and
great Qualities are always found or made,” for it is certain that there are always
in the World, many more great Men, than great Occasions; but the first Architect that
ever liv'd cou'd not erect a tolerable edifice, with rotten Straw only. The whole
mass of the people in England is too corrupt and putrid to produce anything in the
least sound and wholsome from the triffleing fermantation that appears at present,
therefore in my opinion, the Irish, tho' much debauch'd and profligate as to Politics,
are much more worthy of attention and assurances of support than the English. Wou'd
it not { 120 } be good Policy in France to have a good stock of muskets and other Military Stores
lodged at Dunkirk and other sea Ports ready to throw into England at a short warning
if circumstances there should ever require such a measure.

The West India fleet was lying at St. Helens ready to sail under convoy of Comre.
Walsingham the 2d. of April waiting only for a fair wind.2 It is given out in England that Walsingham who will have 6000 Troops with him is
to go first to Africa and then to the W. Indias; but some people suspect that he is
going straight to N. America for it is certain that he carrys out the recruits for
the several Regiments that are now in N. America.

I hear that a vessel is arriv'd at Bourdeaux which left America the 2d. of March,
will you be so good as to tell me from what port in America she sail'd and what intelligence
she brings.

You will see the declaration of Russia with respect to a Neutrality and her propositions
to Holland. Sweden Denmark and Portugal to join her in a League for that purpose;
Time must discover what effect this will have on the haughty and wrongheaded islanders.

With great respect I am at all times Yrs. Adieu

P.S. We see that the Independence of America was proclaimed publicly by beat of Drum
at New Orleans the 19. of August last,3 therefore I suppose Mr. Jay, must have been received with open Arms at Madrid.

1. For William Fullarton's expedition, see Lee's letter of 30 March, and notes 6 and 7 (above).

2. The convoy, intended for Jamaica and including four regiments under the command of
Brig. Gen. George Garth, was at St. Helen's on the Isle of Wight, waiting for Como.
Robert Walsingham's squadron, which was windbound at Torbay from March until June
(Mackesy, War for America, p. 317, 325, 327–329).

3. This erroneous report appeared in a letter, dated 15 Dec. 1779 at Pensacola, from
Maj. Gen. John Campbell to Lord George Germain. Campbell announced the Spanish capture
of Baton Rouge on 21 Sept., and blamed the British defeat on the extensive preparations
for war undertaken by the Spanish officials in Louisiana before the official notification
of hostilities between Britain and Spain arrived in America. The letter was printed
in the London Gazette of 1 April, and reprinted in various other London newspapers.

Docno: ADMS-06-09-02-0091

Author: Adams, John

Recipient: Livingston, Muscoe

Date: 1780-04-10

To Muscoe Livingston

[dateline] Paris Hotel de Valois Ruë de Richelieu April 10. 1780

[salute] Sir

I received your favour of the 28 March, some days ago, and thank you for your kind
Congratulations on my <safe> arrival. Your letter to { 121 } Governor Livingston I sent along to him, with other Letters I carried to America.
I had not the Pleasure of seeing him, as I had not an opportunity to travel that Way.
I am glad to hear that you have recovered your Health, and if you go to America, wish
you an agreable Passage. It is not in my Power to procure you a Passage in one of
the Men of War, but it is very probable you may obtain one nearer where you are by
an Application to the proper Persons, who have Authority for it, if indeed these Vessells
are bound to North America, because your Acquaintance with the Coast may be of service
to them. Please to present my respects to Mr Schweighauser and family. I have the
Honour to be with respect, sir your most Obedient and humble sert

LbC (Adams Papers;) directed to: “Mr. Moses Livingston, au soins de Monsieur J. D. Schweighauser at
Nantes.” Muscoe Livingston, who always signed his name as “M. Livingston,” had written
to the Commissioners and to JA in 1778 and 1779, and is mentioned in letters from other correspondents in those
years (see vols. 6–8).

Docno: ADMS-06-09-02-0092

Author: Adams, John

Recipient: Huntington, Samuel

Recipient: President of Congress

Date: 1780-04-10

To the President of Congress, No. 40

[dateline] Paris April 10th. 1780

[salute] Sir

Duplicate

The Memoire of the Prince Gallitzin, Envoy Extraordinary of all the Russias to the
States General, presented the third of this Month, is of too much Importance to the
United States of America, and their Allies, to be omitted to be sent to Congress.1 It is of the following Tenor.

High and Mighty Lords.,

“The Undersigned, Envoy Extraordinary of her Majesty the Empress of all the Russias,
has the Honor to communicate a Copy of the Declaration, which the Empress his Sovereign
has made to the Powers actually at War. Your High Mightinesses may regard this Communication,
as a particular Mark of the Attention of the Empress, to the Republic equally interested
in the Reasons which have given Birth to this declaration.

He has, moreover, orders to declare, in the name of her Imperial Majesty, that how
much soever She may desire, on the one hand, to maintain during the present War, the
strictest Neutrality, She will nevertheless maintain, by means the most efficacious,
the Honor of the Russian Flag, and the Safety of the Commerce and the Navigation of
her Subjects, and will not suffer that any Injury should be { 122 } done to it, by any of the belligerent Powers. That, to avoid on this occasion all
Misunderstanding, or false Interpretation, She has thought it her Duty to specify
in her Declaration, the Terms of a free Commerce, and of that which is Contraband:
that if the definition of the former, is founded upon Notions the most simple, the
most clear and the most determinate by the Law of Nature, that of the latter, is taken
by her literally from the Treaty of Commerce, of Russia with Great Britain: that by
this She proves incontestibly her good Faith, and her Impartiality, towards both Parties
that She thinks, consequently, that She ought to expect, that the other commercial
Powers will be earnest to accede to her manner of thinking, relative to the Neutrality.
In persuance of these Views her Majesty has charged the Subscriber, to invite your
High Mightinesses to make a Common Cause with her, insomuch that this Union may serve
to protect Commerce and Navigation; observing at the same time the most exact Neutrality,
and to communicate to You the measures which She has taken in Consequence: Similar
Invitations have been already made to the Courts of Copenhagen, Stockholm and Lisbon,
to the End that by the common Cares of all the neutral maritime Powers, a natural
System founded on Justice, and which by its real Utility, may serve as a Rule for
future Ages, may be established and made legal, in favor of the commercial Navigation
of neutral Navigations [i.e. Nations]. The Subscriber makes no doubt, that your High Mightinesses will take into Consideration
the Invitation of her Imperial Majesty, and concur in making without delay a Declaration
to the belligerent Powers founded upon the same principles, with those of the Empress
his Sovereign, by explaining your Sentiments at the same time upon the Subject of
the protection of your Commerce, of your Navigation, and of the Nature of contraband
Goods conformably to the Terms of your particular Treaties with other Nations. Moreover,
the Subscriber has the Honor to assure your High Mightinesses, that if, for establishing
solidly a System, equally glorious and advantageous, to the good prosperity of Navigation
in general, you will commence a Negotiation with the neutral Powers abovementioned,
to the End to establish a particular Convention upon this Subject, the Empress his
Sovereign will be ready to engage in it.

Your High Mightinesses will readily percieve the Necessity of coming to a Resolution
upon Subjects equally important and advantageous to Humanity in general: the Subscriber
requests the favor that your High Mightinesses would furnish him with a speedy Answer.”2

Declaration of her Majesty the Empress of Russia, made to the { 123 } Courts of Versailles, Madrid and London, mentioned in the foregoing Memorial.

“The Empress of all the Russias, has manifested so visibly the Sentiments of Justice,
Equity and Moderation which animate her, and has given, during the whole Course of
the War maintained against the Ottoman Porte, such convincing Proofs of her Attention
to the Rights of Neutrality, and the Freedom of Commerce in general, that in this
Respect She may appeal to the Testimony of all Europe. This Conduct, as well as the
scrupulous Exactness; with which She has observed the Rules of Neutrality, during
the Course of this War, have given Room to hope, that her Subjects would peaceably
enjoy the fruits of their Industry, and the Advantages which belong to all neutral
Nations. Experience has, however, taught her the contrary. Since neither these Considerations,
nor the regard due, to what the Law of Nations in general prescribes, have been able
to hinder, the Subjects of her Majesty from being oftentimes troubled in their Navigation,
or interrupted and retarded in their Commerce, by the Subjects of the Belligerent
Powers. These Interruptions, having come upon Business in general, and that of Russia
in particular, are of a Nature to awaken the Attention of all the neutral Nations,
and oblige her Majesty the Empress to seek to deliver herself from them, by all means
suitable to her Dignity, and the well-being of her Subjects: but before She shall
put them in Execution, and being filled with a sincere desire to prevent all subsequent
Acts of Violence; She has thought that it was consistent with her Equity, to lay open
to all Europe, the principles which will govern her, and which are indispensible to
prevent all Misunderstanding, as well as all which might give Occasion to it. To this
She has determined herself with so much the more Confidence, as these Principles are
drawn from the primitive Law of Nations, adopted by all Nations, which the belligerent
Powers themselves cannot enervate, at least but by violating the Laws of Neutrality,
and contemning the fundamental Rules, which they themselves have adopted, in divers
Treaties and Alliances now existing.

Art. 1st. That all neutral Vessels ought to navigate freely, from one port to another,
as well as upon the Coasts of the Powers now at War.

Art 2d. That the Effects belonging to the Subjects of the belligerent Powers, shall
be free, in neutral Ships, except always, contraband Goods.

Art. 3d. That her Imperial Majesty, in Consequence of the Limits above fixed, will
adhere strictly, to that which is stipulated by the { 124 } tenth and eleventh Articles of her Treaty of Commerce with Great Britain concerning
the manner, in which She ought to conduct towards all the belligerent Powers.

Art. 4th. That as to what concerns a Port blocked, we ought not in Truth to consider,
as such, any but those, which are found so well shut up, by a fixed and sufficient
Number of Vessels belonging to the Power which attacks it, that one cannot attempt
to enter into such Port, without evident danger.

Art. 5th. That these Principles, above laid down, ought to serve as a Rule in all
proceedings, whenever there is a Question concerning the Legality of Prizes.3

From these Considerations, her Imperial Majesty, makes no difficulty to declare that
wishing to insure the Execution of that which is herein before declared, to maintain
at the same time the honor of her flag, as well as the Safety of the Commerce of her
States and also to protect the Navigation of her Subjects, against all those whom
it may concern, She has given Orders, that a considerable Portion of her maritime
Forces, shall be put to Sea, with no other Intention, than to insure the Observation
of the most exact and the most strict Neutrality, which her Majesty proposes to keep
as long as She shall not see herself absolutely forced to depart from that System
of Moderation and of perfect Neutrality, which She has adopted: in such Sort, that
it will not be but in the last Extremity, that her Fleet will exercise her final Orders,
to go, wherever the Necessity and the Circumstances may require.

It is then, by assuring the belligerent Powers in the most solemn manner, and with
all that Rectitude and Sincerity, which form the distinguishing Character of her Imperial
Majesty; that She declares to them, that She proposes to herself no other Thing, than
to convince them of the Sentiments of Equity with which She is animated, as well of
the Tendency of her salutary Views towards the well-being of all Nations in general,
and particularly of those now at War, and that consequently her Imperial Majesty,
will provide her Admiralty, as well as her Generals, with Instructions relative to
this System, extracted from the Code of Nations, and which they have so often taken
for Rules in their Treaties.”

[salute] I have the Honor to be, with the greatest Respect, Sir, your most obedient and most
humble Servant.

[signed] John Adams

Dupl in John Thaxter's hand (PCC, Misc. Papers, Reel 1, f. 55–58;) endorsed: “Duplicate John Adams April 10. 1780 Recd. Septr. 1.
Russian Memorial.” LbC { 125 } (Adams Papers;) notations: “No. 40”; by Thaxter: “N.B. 16th. May 1780. This day sent a duplicate
of the above to Nantes to Mr. Johnson Triplicate, to John Hodshon of Amsterdam, and
another to Mr. Ross of L'Orient who are to forward them to Congress.” Since a letter
from Joshua Johnson also reached Congress on 1 Sept., it was the duplicate sent to
Johnson that first reached Congress (JCC, 17:798).

1. JA correctly assesses the importance to the United States of Prince Dmitry Alekseyevich
Gallitzin's memorial of 3 April and Catherine II's declaration of the principles of
an armed neutrality of 10 March. The Russian initiative was the most significant yet
undertaken by a European power and in succeeding letters JA analyzed its impact on the American cause and the reactions of the neutral and belligerent
powers.

The two documents are relatively straightforward explanations of the motives that
were the immediate cause of Catherine's undertaking. Contrary to the tenor of the
declaration, however, its principles, particularly Art. 2, were not then nor were
they likely to become in the near future part of the established law of nations (see
note 3). Moreover, Catherine hoped that by maintaining a strict neutrality and placing
herself at the head of a league of neutral powers she could achieve her long held
ambition to mediate between France and Great Britain and thereby enhance the position
of Russia within the European political system. Finally, in using the term belligerents,
Catherine meant European belligerents, not the United States. Since Russia did not
recognize the United States as a sovereign state, but rather as a group of British
colonies in rebellion, the provisions of the declaration did not apply to trade with
the United States. Since such trade was illegal under British law, all ships, neutral
or belligerent, were subject to seizure (De Madariaga, Armed Neutrality of 1780, p. 140–145).

These caveats are important when considering statements by JA and other Americans about the armed neutrality. Almost universally they accepted
the proposition that the declaration's principles were or were about to become part
of the law of nations and that the declaration indicated a growing sympathy for the
American cause. On the other hand, they saw as irrelevant, if they considered them
at all, the declaration's European context and Catherine's long-term objectives. For
JA the armed neutrality and the principles that it ostensibly sought to establish took
on a special importance because they fit very neatly into his concept of what should
be the longterm foreign policy of the United States that he had envisioned when he
wrote the Treaty Plan of 1776 and which would become further defined through his reading
and revision of Thomas Pownall's Memorial (vol. 4:260–302; Gregg L. Lint, “Law of Nations and the American Revolution,” in
Lawrence S. Kaplan, ed., The American Revolution and “A Candid World,” Kent, Ohio, 1977, p. 117–119; David M. Griffiths, “American Commercial Diplomacy
in Russia, 1780–1783,” WMQ, 3d ser., 27:380–382 [July 1970]; Edmund Jenings to JA, 12 April, below; A Translation of Thomas Pownall's Memorial, 19 April —[ca. 14 July], below).

2. The States General replied to the memorial on 24 April, but did not accede formally
to the system proposed by Catherine II until 20 Nov. 1780 (James Brown Scott, ed.,
The Armed Neutralities of 1780 and 1800, N.Y., 1915, p. 325).

3. Of the five principles set forth, the first and fourth are relatively unexceptionable.
The first confirmed the existing right of neutrals to trade with all belligerents,
subject to local laws, the right of belligerents to stop and search neutral ships
for contraband, and the prohibition against entering a blockaded port. The fourth
was, perhaps, a more rigorous definition of a blockade than was set down by the authorities
on the law of nations, but it did no more than explicitly state what was already implied
(Emmerich de Vattel, The Law of Nations, or Principles of the Law of Nature, Applied to the Conduct and
Affairs of Nations and Sovereigns, bk. III, chap. 7, sects. 111–114, 117).

The same cannot be said for the second, third, and fifth articles. Their content,
together with the statements in the memorial and the declaration regarding the nature
of the law of nations and the means by which its provisions became established, indicated
a departure from previously held theories about the law's origin. In the eighteenth
century the law of nations had two distinct parts. The first, called the necessary
law of nations, was founded on and indistinguishable from the law of nature; its principles
were self-evident to anyone obeying the dictates of right reason. Binding on all nations,
its tenets were immutable, not subject to human intervention. { 126 } The second part was the positive law of nations, which included the stipulative law
or law of treaties. The stipulative law permitted modifications of the necessary law
in treaties, but such alterations were binding only on the signatories. Where no treaty
provision existed, interstate relations were governed wholly by the dictates of the
necessary law.

The memorial and the declaration, however, implied that the Russian government expected
that the adoption of the declaration's principles by the neutral powers and their
observance by the belligerents would establish those principles as part of the necessary
law. Such an interpretation of the two documents was furthered by the sentence immediately
preceding the five articles in which note was taken of the fact that each of the belligerents
had agreed, in one or more treaties, to the principles set down in the declaration
and thus could not reject them “but by violating the Laws of Neutrality, and contemning
the fundamental Rules, which they themselves have adopted, in divers Treaties and
Alliances now existing.” This implies that a provision could become part of the necessary
law, not because it was a law of nature, but rather because it was accepted by a large
number of nations. No eighteenth-century authority supported such a conception of
the law or envisioned any circumstance by which a treaty provision at variance with
the accepted law of nature could be incorporated into the necessary law, regardless
of how many nations had agreed to it in their treaties.

Art. 2 was the most controversial of the five because the doctrine that it proposed
to establish—free ships make free goods—lacked any standing under the necessary law
of nations and its inclusion largely determined European and American perceptions
of the declaration. In the eighteenth century the established principle among writers
on the law of nations was that enemy goods could be seized wherever found, while neutral
property was free, even if found on an enemy ship. Indeed, when JA wrote this letter the United States observed the established rule toward neutral
and enemy property, except in regard to France because of the establishment of the
principle that free ships made free goods in the Franco-American Treaty of Amity and
Commerce. It did not begin to apply the doctrine that free ships made free goods to
neutral vessels until the adoption of new instructions to the captains of warships
and privateers on 27 Nov. 1780, largely in response to the Russian declaration (JCC, 18:1097– 1098). Had the doctrine that free ships make free goods gained universal
acceptance and become part of the law of nations as Catherine seemed to desire, the
greatest impact would have been on Great Britain because it would have nullified the
advantage enjoyed by Britain from its naval superiority. As a result, although there
is no indication that this was Catherine's intention, the declaration was perceived
in Europe and America as being specifically directed against Britain.

Controversy over the third article was due largely to its misinterpretation. Both
the memorial and the declaration stated that the definition of contraband contained
in Arts. 10 and 11 of the Anglo-Russian treaty would guide Russian actions, but that
other neutrals should define contraband in accordance with their existing treaties
with the belligerents. Despite this, the article was widely seen as an effort to obtain
universal acceptance of the definition set down in the Anglo-Russian treaty (see,
for example, JA to the president of Congress, 14 April, No. 44, calendared, below; and JA to Edmund Jenings, 15 April, below). Under the necessary law of nations contraband goods were defined broadly
as those useful in war. Included under such a designation were arms and ammunition,
naval stores and ships timbers, and even provisions in some instances. Over time,
however, more limited definitions were included in various treaties, particularly
in regard to naval stores, which the Anglo-Russian treaty did not list as contraband.
This was significant because of the Anglo-Dutch dispute over the carrying of naval
stores by Dutch ships that had reached its climax with the British interception of
a Dutch convoy at the beginning of 1780 and the suspension of all provisions in Anglo-Dutch
treaties relating to neutral trade in April. From Britain's perspective the universal
adoption of such a list of contraband would have had much the same effect as the adoption
of the doctrine that free ships make free goods, namely to reduce or eliminate the
fruits of its naval superiority (De Madariaga, Armed Neutrality of 1780, p. 172–180, 445– 446). See also Sir James Marriott's ruling in the case of La Sybellina Hillegonda, one of the Dutch ships seized from Adm. Lodewijk van Bylandt's convoy, in JA's letter of 6 April to the president of Congress (No. 37, calendared, above).

Docno: ADMS-06-09-02-0093

Author: Adams, John

Recipient: Huntington, Samuel

Recipient: President of Congress

Date: 1780-04-10

This is a summary of a document and does not contain a transcription. If it is available
elsewhere in this digital edition, a page number link will be provided below in the
paragraph beginning "Printed."

To the President of Congress, No. 41

In this letter, received by Congress on 19 Feb. 1781, John Adams provided the text
of the British ministry's statement to the Dutch Ambassador, Comte de Welderen, that
there would be no extension of the three week time limit given the States General
to answer Sir Joseph Yorke's memorial of 21 March.

This is a summary of a document and does not contain a transcription. If it is available
elsewhere in this digital edition, a page number link will be provided below in the
paragraph beginning "Printed."

To the President of Congress, No. 42

Received by Congress on 19 Feb. 1781, this letter included a series of newspaper accounts
of events at Copenhagen, Madrid, Paris, Malta, Frankfort, Amsterdam, and London. Among
the matters dealt with were the treatment of neutral ships by Spain and Great Britain,
Russia's proposal for a League of Armed Neutrality, the imminent dispatch of a Spanish
fleet and army to America, and the Dutch response to Sir Joseph Yorke's memorial of
21 March.

This is a summary of a document and does not contain a transcription. If it is available
elsewhere in this digital edition, a page number link will be provided below in the
paragraph beginning "Printed."

To the President of Congress, No. 43

In this letter, received by Congress on 19 Feb. 1781, Adams listed twenty-five English
counties and nine cities and towns that had, between Dec. 1779 and 30 March, held
meetings and agreed to submit petitions in support of economic and parliamentary reform.
As the best expression of the association movement's goals, Adams included a partial
text of the principles agreed to on 28 March by a Yorkshire meeting. He also referred
to articles in London's Morning Post of 1 and 3 April.

From John Bondfield

[dateline] Nantes 12 April 1780

[salute] Sir

I am honord with your obliging and interesting favors of the 2 Instant. The arrival
of our two Ships the Governor Livngston and Mary Fearen from Virginia at Nantes obliged
me to repair to this Town to see to the discharge and disposal of their Cargoes and
the reequiptment of the Ships. This has prevented my replies in the course you had
a right to expect, as your Letters were forwarded to me and only came to hand last
Post. I have given Orders to forward by the Turgotine1 one hhd of the best vin de lafitt and as it will be { 128 } | view some days after its arrival before it will be in a proper State to draw off I have
order a Case of fifty Bottles to be also forwarded that will be fit for emediate Use.
There are as many various qualities of Wines in the presses of Bordeaux as there are
parishes. Each have their peculiar tact [tack?], flavor and the Country to which their consumption is particularly preferd them.
The most esteemed for private Use of the first second and third qualitys are:2

Vin de Segeur ou lafit sells in peaceable times 2000″ [livres] per Ton

Chatteau Magot

}

from 800 a 1200″

St. Julien

Cannon

Medoc comprehending various qualities

400 a 800″

Vin Blanc—

de Bersac

}

360″ a 400″

de La Grave

The above are the qualities fit for private Use rated as new wines. The price encreases
in proportion to age from 20 to 50 per Cent.

A Ton comprehends four hogsheds, each hogshed two hundred and fifty Bottles. This
I supose is in substance what you desire to be informd of. If any further explainations
I shall most chearfully enter into a further detail.

I have heard of the reports you mention to have been propagated, but always treated
them as many others of the like Nature; as the fanthome of a discontented individual,
raised purely without other intent than to give vente to a passion, created by the
loss of a Ship or other incedant occurence. In this Kingdom are many State Jobbers
who lay out and patch up as their imaginations suggest without either ground or probability
and without even a single Correspondent. I have rarely far to travel before I find
the source of most reports, and emediately give the Credit due the distributer which
at Bordeaux are pretty well known to me.

I wrote you 2 March under Cover to our freind A L. as he left Paris about that time.
I suppose the Letter must have been sent after him and he has omitted to forward it
to you if got to his hand.3

By advices from Lorient I learn Cap Jones has difficulty with his Officers and men
who all Unitedly require a settlement of Prizes taken during their former Cruizes.
LeRay de Chaumont holds them at short allowance. So long as that Man has the management
of the American affairs there will raise perpetually difficulties. His private { 129 } undertakings involves him in difficulties and causes him to blend them independent
to become subservient to his momentary cravings. I sincerely pity Mess Lee and Izard
who are forced [to] pay attendance to his pleasure, they must wait at Lorient til it suits his conveniences
to settle the Seamens Claims.4 I should have been glad our terms Suited Mr. De Chaumont for the transport of the
Publick Goods by our Ships as we could have easily and Agreably accomodated them Gentlemen
in One of them. Our offers were rejected, and the Goods bought by Mr. Ross three years
past with many others may posibly remain some time before they get forwarded.5 With due respect I have the Honor to be Sr. your very hhb Servant

1. A public transportation system for the conveyance of freight and official dispatches
within France established in 1775 by Anne Robert Jacques Turgot, controller-general
of finances (Hoefer, Nouv. biog. générale).

2. Compare Bondfield's comments regarding the wines of Bordeaux with those by B. de Cabarrus
Jeune in his letter of 8 April (above).

3. This letter has not been found and apparently never reached JA (to Bondfield, 25 April, below).

4. For Le Ray de Chaumont and the Alliance, see Arthur Lee to JA, 26 March, and note 2 (above).

5. In 1778 John Ross, a Philadelphia merchant and sometime European agent of Willing,
Morris & Co., had been involved in a bitter dispute with the American Commissioners
over his accounts and their obligation to reimburse him for supplies purchased under
orders from the Secret Committee of Trade (see vols. 6 and 7; Papers of Robert Morris, ed. E. James Ferguson and John C. Catanzariti, Pittsburgh, 1973– , 1:169). It is
not known when or if the goods referred to by Bondfield were sent to America.

Docno: ADMS-06-09-02-0097

Author: Jenings, Edmund

Recipient: Adams, John

Date: 1780-04-12

From Edmund Jenings

[dateline] Brussels April 12. 1780

[salute] Sir

I Congratulate your Excellency, on the Russian Memorial; on its face, it promises
much, (as it has something, that tends to a general Coalition). Surely the Independance
of America is essential to the freedom of Commerce, I wish it was generally thought
so; however the Invitation to Sweden, Denmark, Portugal and Holland leads to an immediate
formidable Confederacy against the overgrown, and consequently insolent Power of England.

I congratulate your Excellency too that Nothing was heard, in Maryland, of Clinton
with his 8000 Men the 2d of March, I trust we shall hear no more of Him.

I received yesterday a Letter from Mr Joshua Johnson at Nantes, wherein He expresses
an Earnest desire of being permitted to Lay { 130 } before you such Information, as may come to his Knowledge, and have your Correspondence
and Confidence. Give me leave Sir, to recommend Him to your Excellency, as a Gentleman
highly worthy of both. He has accepted, from a Sense of Duty to our Country, the painful
and invidious Business of Auditing the public Accounts, and promises a Strict and
faithful Discharge of that important Office.1 This I am sure will be most pleasing to You, and serve to recommend him better to
your Notice, than All I can say; it is Sometime Since He Signified his Acceptance
of the Employment, but has not receivd an Answer. He tells me, that Congress has said,
that they intend to draw bills at 6 Months Sight for £200,000 Sterling, the buyer
to pay 25000 Currency for £1000 Sterling, and to lend Congress £25000 more, which
is to go in the Sinking fund, and for which they are to receive 6 per Cent Interest.2

He tells me too, that the State of Maryland, having some Money in the English Funds,
have named Mr Carmichael, Mr Williams, Mr R B LLoyd, Himself and me as fit persons,
out of whom His Excellency Mr Franklin is to chuse one to sell and receive and transmit
the same, for which He is to have 2 1/2 per Cent.3 I am much pleasd with the Notice, that my Native Country has taken of me, and therefor,
altho I am not ambitious of the Employment I shall think it my Duty in Obedience to
the State to accept it if the Choice falls on me, (of which I am told there is little
probability) however I must first beg your Advice and directions, Should his Excellency
nominate me and you shoud approve of my Acceptance, I shall be obligd to you to make
known to Him my present Residence.

Mr Carmichael writes from Madrid, that He is much satisfied with the Frankness of
those, with whom He treats. He wishes my Correspondence and Every information, for
altho He has written several Letters to Paris within these six weeks, He has received
no Answer.

I had proposed to have gone to Boulogne, for my Baggage left there last Summer before
this, as I took the Liberty of Informing your Excellency, but shall now stay here,
until I have the Honor of receiving your Direction, whether it will be necessary for
me to Attend yours and his Excellencys Mr Franklins Command at Paris.

[salute] I have the Honor to be with the greatest Respect your Excellencys Most Obedient and
Faithful Servt.

1. For Johnson, a merchant and JQA's future father-in-law, see JA, Diary and Autobiography, 2:300. Johnson was nominated on 28 Sept. 1779, along with Jenings and a “Mr. Labouchere,”
to examine the public accounts and was elected by Congress the next day { 131 } (JCC, 15:1114–1115, 1126).

2. Johnson was referring to Congress' resolutions of 23 Nov. 1779 directing that £100,000
sterling in bills of exchange be drawn on John Jay in Spain and a like sum on Henry
Laurens in the Netherlands, “payable at six months sight” and sold “at the current
rate of exchange.” The details of the required loan of an amount equal to the purchase
price of the bills of exchange were finally set on 27 Dec. (JCC, 15:1299–1300, 1315–1316, 1326–1327, 1404– 1405, 1412–1413). Although Congress prepared
the bills for sale, most were never used because of the unlikelihood that sufficient
funds would be available for payment in either Spain or the Netherlands (E. James
Ferguson, Power of the Purse, Williamsburg, 1961, p. 55–56).

3. In Nov. 1779 the Maryland Assembly, seeking to obtain funds for the redemption of
its bills of credit, authorized Benjamin Franklin (or John Jay, in Franklin's absence)
to order the pre-Revolutionary trustees of Maryland's stock in the Bank of England,
resident in Britain, to sell the stock and transfer the funds to a bank in Paris or
Amsterdam. If the trustees refused, Franklin was to appoint a trustee from among the
five men named by Jenings in his letter. The new trustee would then go to London and
through some unspecified means take control of the state's funds. JA later discussed the matter with Franklin and on 30 April forwarded to Jenings the
substance of the legislation (Adams Papers). As events transpired, the pre-war trustees refused to act and Franklin apparently
named William Carmichael as trustee, but he never took up his post. Maryland did not
finally obtain access to its funds until 1806, after much negotiation and litigation
(Kathryn L. Behrens, Paper Money in Maryland, 1727–1789, in Johns Hopkins University Studies in Historical and Political Science, Baltimore, 1923, Ser. 41, No. 1, p. 88–94; Archives of Maryland, Baltimore, 1883– , 43:50–51).

Docno: ADMS-06-09-02-0098

Author: Lee, Arthur

Recipient: Adams, John

Date: 1780-04-12

From Arthur Lee

[dateline] L'Orient April 12th. 1780

[salute] Dear Sir

I am obliged to you for yours of the 31st. which I received by Capt. Landais. You
will have perceived by my last,1 that what you write relative to an application to Mr. Grand was what struck me upon
reflection. Far from wishing to involve you with such People, I am clearly of opinion
that it never will be for your honor or interest, or those of the public, to have
any connection with them. The character you are in, will introduce you to the best
families in Paris; and if you shoud ever want their advice or influence in transacting
the public business, I am sure they will give it. There is not a man upon earth of
more honor, worth, and wisdom, than Count Sarsfield; nor any one who woud more readily
promote the success of your Mission for the benefit of our Country. The Men who have
hitherto been permitted and encouraged to meddle with our affairs, and even presume
to direct them, are fit only for such dirty and dishonest jobs as fitting out the
Bon Homme Richard, or robbing dispatches.2 And as I am very sure you will have no such jobs for them, I am most convinced, and
my regard for you and the public makes me venture to offer it as my opinion, that
you will with difficulty escape the injuries which I have experienced, if you have
any society or connection with them. Your character places you in a Sphere far above
them; and beleive { 132 } me, your honor and success are greatly concernd in not discending from it as others
have done.

2. Presumably Le Ray de Chaumont, certainly one of those whom Arthur Lee would describe
in the terms used in this letter. Chaumont had been the chief agent of the French
government during the outfitting of the Bonhomme Richard squadron in 1779 and Lee suspected that he had been involved in the 1777 theft of
the Commissioners' dispatches to Congress carried by Capt. John Folger (Morison, John Paul Jones, p. 192–193; vol. 6:320; 7:134–135).

3. The extract from Ferdinand Grand's reply of 8 April (ViU: Lee Papers) to Arthur Lee's letter of 30 March (PCC, No. 102, III, f. 170–171) is accurate, aside from slight variations in spelling
and punctuation. As translated the passage reads: I am displeased not to be able to
give you an explanation of the sort you desire, because I cannot conceal from you
or from myself that it was known that you did not have the confidence of the Court,
I myself can be in sympathy with people who knew it as well and perhaps better than
myself, without having knowingly wronged you; but it is too unpleasant a thing to
discuss, much less write about without having an express purpose.

Docno: ADMS-06-09-02-0099

Author: Adams, John

Recipient: Cabarrus, B. de, Jeune

Date: 1780-04-13

To B. de Cabarrus Jeune

[dateline] Paris Hotel de Valois Ruë de Richelieu April 13. 1780

[salute] Sir

I have received the Letter, which you did me, the Honour to write to me, the 8th of
this month, and I thank you, sir, for So ready an Answer to my Request, and for so
clear, So full and So intelligible an Account, of the Several Sorts of Wines, which
go, in general under the Denomination of Bourdeaux. It is a Branch of Knowledge, which
like many others, is much wanted in America, where I shall take the Liberty to Send
it.

I will venture to request you to send me, four or five Cases of fifty Bottles each,
of some Wine of the best Quality. I shall leave it to you, { 133 } to choose for me, and to fix the Price, only let me beg that it may be well corked
and Sealed, and that the Wine may be good. Your draught upon me, for the Pay, shall
be punctually honoured.

Neither Mr. Sabatier nor Mr. Despres, has Spoke to me, on the Subject you mention.
You may depend upon every Thing that may depend upon me, that Justice may be done.
I am sir, with great respect, your obliged, humble sert.

To William Lee

[dateline] Paris April 13. 1780

[salute] Dear sir

I received yesterday, your favour of the 9. The Vessell you inquire after, is from
Baltimore. What day she Sailed I dont know, she brought, very large Bundles of Newspapers
a Year and an half old, and only three modern ones. These are all Baltimore Papers,
and the latest of them is 15. Feb. Not a Scratch of a Pen to Dr. Franklin or me.

All the News in these Papers, is, they have had an hard Winter, deep Snows and uncommon
Frosts, such as made a Bridge of Ice from Connecticutt to Long Island, and from N.
Jersey to Staten Island, to which last Lord Sterling went over, with a Party, burnt
a few Vessells and a Guard House, took a few Prisoners, and afforded his Protection
to a few deserters. Some N. Jersey People went over at the Same time and plundered,
in a manner that displeased their General. Finding the Communication open with N.
York he return'd. A Paragraph from a Pokeepsie Papers Says, that Clinton and Cornwallis
with 7000 troops, Sailed the 26. December for the W. Indies, but that the storm which
happend, a day or two after their Departure, was supposed to have injured them very
much. A ship, Brigg and Schooner lost in the storm on Cape Cod, unknown who or whence,
all perished.

Congress had recommended to all the states to regulate Prices at 20 for one, which
by the Speculations in the Papers was not well relished. Govr Johnson a Delegate in
Congress for Maryland, General Ward for Mass Bay in the Room of Mr Dana.1 There is also an Account in the Papers, of Mr. Gerards taking Leave of Congress,
and of their Votes containing in full and strong Terms an Approbation of his Conduct,
and a request that he would sit for his Picture to be { 134 } taken, by my old Friend Peel and preserved, as the Representative of the first foreign
Minister to the United States.2

The Tale of the Proclamation of our Independence at New Orleans the 19 of Aug. by
Beat of Drum must be an idle one. Mr. Jay nevertheless, has as I believe met, an affectionate
and respectfull Reception, and after the Count de Florida Blanca shall have negotiated
out of him, the best Terms he possibly can, and Mr. Jay shall have negotiated out
of the Count the best Terms, that the Circumstances of our Country in Mr. Jays opinion,
will admit of his insisting on, I have no Doubt a Treaty will be made. It is not att
all surprizing to me, that Spain has been cool to Us, apparently so. The Truth is,
she made a Treaty with us, the 6 <March> Feb. 1778. or in other Words, We bound ourselves to her, in a Treaty sufficiently
advantageous to her in all Conscience, with out, her being bound to us at all.3

Is it not a Judgment of incensed Heaven, against the Islanders, that should have blinded,
and stupified them to such a Degree, as not only to permit us, but drive Us to the
Necessity, of binding ourselves, by our unsullied and unalterable Virgin Faith, in
such a manner to their Ennemies. But it would not be at all surprising to me, if continuing
in this course of blindness, they should declare War, against Holland, Prussia, Sweeden,
Denmark Russia, Portugal and the Ottoman Port, and at the sametime, undertake to suppress
the 60,000 Men in Arms in Ireland by Force, and to disperse the Meeting of Committees
in England by setting the Military to fire upon them. There would be nothing in all
this more unjust, more inhumane, more impolitick, extravagant, or mad, than in what
they have, invariably been ingaged in these many Years.

1. The information provided by JA to this point in the letter was copied, with relatively few changes, from the Letterbook
copy of his letterto William Carmichael of 8 April. See that letter and notes 5 and 6 (above).

2. On 3 Sept. 1779, Congress resolved to ask Conrad Alexandre Gérard to sit for a portrait
before he left Philadelphia. Charles Willson Peale undertook the commission and by
18 Sept. Gérard had apparently completed his sittings. For reasons that remain obscure,
however, Congress never took possession of Peale's painting (Charles Coleman Sellers,
Portraits and Miniatures by Charles Willson Peale, Phila., 1952, p. 86, 297; Sellers misidentifies the portrait as being of Joseph
Mathias Gérard de Rayneval, the brother of Conrad Alexandre). The portrait is now
in the Independence Hall Collection at Philadelphia.

3. José Monino, Conde de Floridablanca, Spanish prime minister and foreign minister from
1777 to 1792, provided some clandestine financial support to the American cause, but
opposed American independence because it posed a threat to Spanish possessions in
North America. As a result, he refused to receive Jay officially, much less to negotiate
a Spanish-American treaty or to accede to the Franco-American treaties of 1778 under
the provisions of the “Act Separate and Secret” (Hoefer, Nouv. biog. générale; Bemis, Diplomacy of the Amer. Revolution, p. 41, 56, 104).

Docno: ADMS-06-09-02-0101

Author: Adams, John

Recipient: MacCreery, William

Date: 1780-04-13

To William MacCreery

[dateline] Paris Hotel de Valois Ruë de Richelieu April 13. 1780

[salute] Dear Sir

I never heard a Word of your Arrival, untill this Day.1 I sincerely congratulate you upon it, and hope the fine Cargo you have brought will
Set you at your Ease. Pray how did you leave all Friends and all Things at Baltimore,
and in the rest of America? What is become of my old Friends Johnson, Paca, Chase,
and many others?2

Baltimore flourishes, it [seems?] in trade, which I wish may be increased, as I doubt not it will. Almankind seem against
the English and Scotch, Ireland is clear, and one half of England Seems to be against
Scotland and the other half.

It is very strange that it should require a Combination of all the Nations of the
Earth, with America, Ireland and the Whigs in England, to bring to reason, Scotland
and the Tories. Yet so it is. And it seems it must take a good deal of time for the
whole Combination to succeed. Have you any News of Mr. Laurens Father or Son?3 Do you know the designs of Congress relative to Holland? Can you give me a more particular
Account of the storm the first of the Year. An hurricane of 15 days, is a new Phenominon
in America? What must have become of Clintons Fleet?

1. JA and MacCreery, a Maryland native and merchant, had exchanged numerous letters in
1778 and 1779. In a letter of 28 April 1779, MacCreery had informed JA of his imminent departure for America. JA may have learned of his return from Benjamin Franklin, to whom MacCreery had written
from Bordeaux on 8 April (vol. 8:49; Cal. Franklin Papers, A.P.S., 2:235).

2. Thomas Johnson, William Paca, and Samuel Chase were all prominent Maryland politicians.

3. JA initially ended the letter at this point, for the remainder of the text is written
around the closing “Adieu.”

Docno: ADMS-06-09-02-0102

Author: Adams, John

Recipient: Huntington, Samuel

Recipient: President of Congress

Date: 1780-04-14

This is a summary of a document and does not contain a transcription. If it is available
elsewhere in this digital edition, a page number link will be provided below in the
paragraph beginning "Printed."

To the President of Congress, No. 44

This letter, received by Congress on 19 Feb. 1781, included reports from Constantinople,
Copenhagen, London, and The Hague concerning the determination of neutral nations,
including the Ottoman Empire, to resist the depredations of the belligerent powers
on their commerce either by their own efforts or under the aegis of a league of armed
neutrality. Noting the progress toward such a league, John Adams declared “for my
own part, I think, that { 136 } the Abolition of the whole Doctrine of Contraband, would be for the Peace and Happiness
of Mankind, and I doubt not, as human Reason advances, and Men come to be more sensible
of the Benefits of Peace, and less enthusiastic for the savage Glories of War, all
neutral Nations will be allowed by universal Consent, to carry what Goods they please
in their own Ships, provided they are not to places actually invested by an Enemy.”
This statement reflects a uniquely American view of the proposed league's purpose
and the nature and evolution of the law of nations.

Adams ended his letter with the following passage: “The Reflection from Amsterdam,
after relating the Affair of Captain Ankerloo, in the Sweedish Frigate the Illerim,
is very proper to conclude this Letter. To judge of things the most impartially, no
Man can doubt, that Proceedings so violent, and so contrary to the natural Rights
of Nations, will make the Neutral Powers feel, how much it imports them to set Bounds to the intolerable Excesses, to which their
Vessels sailing under the Faith of Treaties are daily exposed, by the Ships of one
Party in the present War.” The first sentence of this passage was not included by
Wharton. On the Illerim, see Adams' letter of 4 April to the president of Congress (No. 36, calendared above).

From Thomas Digges

[dateline] 14th Apl. 1780

[salute] Dear Sir

I am obligd to You for the Book forwarded me by Mr. L–g–n,1 but unfortunately there is a sheet wanting in the most material part of it, that
of the description and powers to the Senate, from Page 16 to 25 the leaves are wanting
or rather page 17 to 24 inclusive. This however is of no material consequence as the
book is but the report and not the Established new Constitution of the Massachusetts. When such should get
to Your hands I should be extreemly glad of it for other reasons than those of merely
making myself acquainted with the Constitution of the different States of our Country.2Monsr. Francois Bowens Negociant Ostend3 will forward such to me or any other parcells you may have to send, and thro him
I can contrive to get you any publications from hence. The way to get News Papers
in the safest way is to agree for them at the Post Officers in Paris who have a means
of getting them from the same office here.

A Ship from St. Kitts the 5 March brings no other accounts than that La Mothe Puquets
Squadron (as it was here currently reported to be blockd up in Guadaloupe by Adl. Parker) has saild from thence and made a junction with the
other Ships at Martinico, where the numbers were 14 of the line the 1st. March, so
that when Monr. Guichens Squadron gets out and the other small squadron the number
of French will be 36 to about 31 English.4

The W. India fleet saild the 8th. and Greaves ships after a very serious mutiny on
board some of them are gone to sea (said to be for America) the 11th Instant. No Men
of War was intended for that Station but those were hastily got ready in consequence
of hearing a fleet was soon to go from Brest with troops on board to N. America. Most
people here suppose that fleet bound to Quebec or Hallifax.5

Every day seems to produce more advocates or wishers for withdrawing the troops from
America or giving up an offensive war in that Country.

A Motion was to have been made this day in the Commons relative to the State of the
War in that Country and to push the Ministry for the giving up the principles of that
War and to go seriously to some accomodation.6 The voice of the majority of the People are decidedly for some such accomodation,
but there is no one who can devise the means by which it can be done; tho most of
my parliamentary acquaintance are for giving the Independence none of them seem bold
enough to stand forth and move it in the house. The time is certainly not yet arrivd
when it would go down there but I do not think it very distant, and I am sure had
the topic been debated to day there would have appeard a manifest disposition in the
House to abandon the principles of the War in America, and it seems as if Ministry
wishd to feel the pulses of the House upon that subject. A new and unexpected matter
put off the whole affair; the Speaker without appearing to be very ill, stood up and declard a wish to resign from not being Able thro illness to go on with the Business of the House. It appeard as much a political as a real
illness and I dare say some new movements perhaps in the Administration may be the
consequence. He has not however resignd and the House is adjournd for the benefit
of his health till next Monday week; perhaps it may be then too late to renew the
intended motion about America or the State of the War there.7 The possession of Charles Town if but for a week or the taking two or three men of
War from their Enemys may make these wise-heads think their arms invincible and that
they may have some better success by prosecuting the War a little further.

There is with me a Mr. Jonathan Loring A–s–n8 who left Boston the 29th. Jany. and was taken in Zephir Packet in the Bay. He leaves
me to day and will soon be nearer You; He expects some letters to your or rather Mr.
D[an]as care by the Protector, which vessel would sail about the 1st. March.

There is a second Paul Jones alarm near the Coast of Hull. An Express has arrivd to
day that four or five Ships of the Enemy have { 138 } got to that quarter and taken 2 or 4 prizes they appear to be french frigates and
the Hull people can spy very clearly the Countess of Scarborough9 (which once belongd to that port) to be one of the Squadron. I wish you every success
and happiness and am with very great regard Your Obedt. Servant,

2. This was The Report of a Constitution or Form of Government for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Boston, 1779 (vol. 8:236–261), several copies of which JA distributed to European officials and correspondents. The missing pages noted by
Digges make it likely that the first British printings of a portion of the constitution
in the London Courant and the Courier de l'Europe of 18 April were derived from his copy. The pages missing from Digges' copy, 17 to
24, contained most of Chap. II, Sect. I, Art. III dealing with the General Court;
all of Chap. II, Sect. II, describing the Senate; and all of Chap. II, Sect. III,
Art. I and part of Art. II dealing with the House of Representatives. The portion
of the constitution printed in the London Courant contained James Bowdoin's prefatory letter transmitting the Report to the constitutional convention, the Preamble, and Chap. I, the Declaration of Rights.
In the Report, which is paginated from the titlepage, the Declaration of Rights ends on page 15,
with the initial portions of Chap. II occupying the remainder of the page and all
of the following page. In the London Courant the Declaration of Rights ends with the note: “We are in hopes in a short time to
lay before our readers the whole frame of the government of the commonwealth of Massachusetts,
of which the foregoing is not more than a quarter part.” It was not until early June
that the missing portion of the Report was received and was printed in the London Courant of 6, 7, and 8 June; and the Courier de l'Europe of 9, 13, and 16 June. In the London Courant the text was preceded by the statement that “we have, since that time [18 April],
had the good fortune to obtain a complete copy of that report.” The delay forced John
Almon to use the portion printed in the London
Courant of 18 April in the first volume of The Remembrancer for 1780 (p. 377–381). The remainder of the constitution appeared in the second volume
of The Remembrancer for 1780, but there it was taken from the text of the constitution as ratified, not
the committee report (p. 202–222).

3. For Francis Bowens as intermediary for packages from Digges to JA, see the letters exchanged by JA and Bowens of 5 and 12 May, respectively, and Edmé Jacques Genet's letter of 17 May (all below).

4. A rumor without substance, either as to the movement of La Motte Picquet or the number
of vessels that would be available to each side when the French and British fleets
finally met off Martinique on 17 April. See JA's letters to the president of Congress of 19 Feb., note 2, and to James Warren of 23 Feb., (vol. 8:337, 359–360).

5. Although various London newspapers (see, for example, the London Chronicle, 11– 13 April) reported that Como. Robert Walsingham's convoy of the West Indies
merchant fleet and Brig. Gen. Garth's troops had sailed on the 8th, adverse winds
soon forced it back into Torbay where it remained until June (William Lee to JA, 9 April, note 2, above; Edmund Jenings to JA, 22 Feb. and note 4, vol. 8:352–353). The squadron under Rear Adm. Thomas Graves was ordered to intercept
Ternay's convoy of Rochambeau's army, but because of delays in resupplying his vessels,
demands by his sailors for their pay, and contrary winds which prevented him from
entering the English Channel, Graves was unable to leave Plymouth until 17 May, over
two weeks after Ternay left Brest (Dull, French Navy and Amer. Independence, p. 191; Mackesy, War for America, p. 326–329).

6. No such motion was made on 14 April, although in the course of the debates Gen. Henry
Seymour Conway indicated that a motion concerning America “stood for that day” (Parliamentary Reg., 17:529). The intended motion or motions were probably those long { 139 } contemplated by David Hartley that had been announced as early as 7 March (same, 17:223–
224). On 10 April Hartley again indicated his intention to introduce several propositions
concerning America, but only on 1 May did he disclose their substance and not until
11 May were they formally introduced as resolutions (same, 17:485, 606, 695–696).
For their content, see Thomas Digges' letter of 2 May, and note 7 (below).

7. The view that Sir Fletcher Norton's illness, which led to the adjournment of the House
of Commons until 24 April, was as much political as physical was widespread. Norton
became the Speaker in 1770 and, according to his speech of 13 March 1780, the Duke
of Grafton had promised him that in return for serving he would ultimately be appointed
to a high judicial position. In 1780 the chief justiceship of the Court of Common
Pleas was vacated, but instead of Norton, Lord North appointed Alexander Wedderburn.
North's failure to honor his predecessor's promise estranged Norton from the ministry,
leading him to abandon the Speaker's traditional neutrality and even to oppose the
ministry on important votes, most notably in regard to sections of Edmund Burke's
economical reform bill and John Dunning's resolutions of 6 April to diminish the influence
and prerogatives of the crown. Given the apparent resurgence by mid-April of the ministry's
ability to frustrate the opposition's efforts at reform, the Speaker's illness and
the subsequent adjournment could be seen as an effort to allow the opposition forces
time to regroup and form a new strategy. When a new parliament met in Oct., Lord North
replaced Norton with Charles Wolfran Cornwall (Namier and Brooke, House of Commons; Parliamentary Reg., 17:319–333, 461–465; for contrasting views of Norton, his illness and resignation,
see the London Morning Post and Daily Advertiser for 17, 18, 19, and 21 April; and the London Evening Post for 15–18, 18–20, and 20–22 April).

8. For Jonathan Loring Austin, appointed by the Massachusetts General Court to seek a
European loan, see Mass. Council to JA and Francis Dana, 13 Jan., and note 23 (vol. 8:308–309).

9. This report appeared in various London newspapers, including the London Courant of 15 April, but it was almost certainly not the sloop of war Countess of Scarbourough that was observed. In April the sloop, which had been captured by the Pallas during the battle between the Bonhomme Richard and the Serapis, was most likely at Dunkirk (Morison, John Paul Jones, p. 239, 266; Cal. Franklin Papers, A.P.S., 2:207, 251).

Docno: ADMS-06-09-02-0104

Author: Adams, John

Recipient: Digges, Thomas

Date: 1780-04-15

To Thomas Digges

[dateline] Paris Ap. 15. [1780]

Yours of April 6. I have this day received. That of 28 Ultimo received. That of 20th
not.1

Let me beg of you to send me duplicates, of Pamphlets, as they come out,2 when you send Letters to another Gentleman. Any Banker in London who will draw upon,
Me or Mr. Grand the Banker for the Expence of them, shall be punctually paid, or I
will get Mr. Grand to desire some Banker of his Correspondence to pay you, or the
Bookseller if any one, will undertake to send them to me. Political Pamphlets I mean
respecting the present War, and the actual State of Things. It is of much Importance
to me, and perhaps to others, that I should have all these Things as soon as possible
and that they should be my Property that I may have the Use of them to myself as long
as I please, and send them where, and as soon as I please. If Almond, will send me
his Newspaper, by you, I will pay him or you { 140 } in the manner I mentioned above. I want also that Vol. of Remembrancer called prior
Documents in which is the History of the rise and Progress of the disputes with Amer.3 I wrote you, on the 6th of Ap. by Post, an Account, of some News from America. Since
which have seen a Letter from a Passenger. The Account he gives of the storm or rather
Hurricane that happened to Clinton, i.e so soon after his departure, that it is impossible
he should have escaped it, is terrible, it makes Humanity shudder, even in this Case,
which is the least entitld to its feelings of any Disaster of the Kind that ever happend.
It is impossible by this account, that one of his Ships should be upon the Amer. coast.
They must be all driven off, somewhere. Time will discover. I sent you a Pamphlet
by Dr. L.4 Have no Papers of present. When I have you shall have them, or the substance. I wish
to know, the Effect in England of another storm from the North?5

Adieu

[dateline] Ap. 16.

Least the other method should not succeed, I send you four Guineas to pay for Pamphlets
and Papers.6 I take already, regularly by another Channel, the general Advertiser and Morning
Post.7 You need not therefore send me these, but subscribe for as many other Papers as you
think proper, and send them always by private Hands, with all the Pamphlets that can
through any light on the great systems of Business now in Agitation. Send me a note
of the Expence, and it shall be remitted without delay. I am determined to Spare no
Expence of this Sort, insert the inclosed in all the Papers if you please. It is of
Importance, that I should, in my present situation be known to be faithfull to our
Allies and Alliances, and in good Understanding with this Court. To this End I pray
you to publish this Extract, of a Letter, in the original, or translated as you think
proper, and with such an Introduction as you think proper.8

5 O Clock

I have since found means to accomplish, that if you call on Mr. Teissier old Broad
Street, he will pay you, the Money for what you send of Papers and Pamphlets.

LbC (Adams Papers;) directed to: “W. S. C.” The portion of this letter dated 16 April was written in
the Letterbook on the second page following that dated the 15th, but Digges' reply
of 28 April (below) makes it clear that the two parts were sent as a single letter.

2. For a list of pamphlets sent by Digges to JA between 25 April and 10 June, see the enclosure to Digges' letter of 8 June (below).

3. John Almon's newspaper was the London Courant, and the Westminster Chronicle, which Digges had mentioned in his letter of 3 March (above). Almon also published a compilation of documents relating to the progress
of the war entitled The Remembrancer, or Impartial Repository of Public Events, 16 vols., London, 1775–1784. In 1777 Almon issued a supplementary volume to The Remembrancer entitled A Collection of Interesting, Authentic Papers, Relative to the Dispute between Great
Britain and America; shewing the Causes and Progress of that Misunderstanding, from
1764 to 1775, also known as “Prior Documents.” See, however, JA's letter to Digges of [6–7? June] (below).

4. George Logan. For the “Pamphlet,” see Digges' letter of 14 April, and note 2 (above).

5. This sentence was interlined and refers to Catherine II's proposed armed neutrality.

To Edmund Jenings

[dateline] Paris Ap. 15. 1780

[salute] Dear Sir

Yours of the 6 and 12 of April are before me. The last received to day. I thank you,
sir, for so readily, undertaking to announce &c. As to going to England upon any Errand
for me, the Time is not yet come. I must avoid every Thing of that Kind yet.

The Memorial from Russia, refutes at once all the Lyes of Seven Years growth, which
is one Point.1 It does more. It threatens, an Union of all Mankind except the H[ouse] of Austria against England.

Pray what is your impartial opinion of this Measure of the Empress. That it is useful
to Us, and destructive to England is most certain: but laying all this out of the
Scale, is it not, useful, equitable, reasonable, and humane? Is it not for the Interest
of Mankind, that neutral ships should make free goods, and that Ports blocked up,
should be strictly construed, to mean only those which are besieged, and shut up by
force? The contrary Doctrine seems to have been chiefly English, and they have grounded
it always, on the selfish Principle of their insular Situation, and of the Power which
they had from that Cause, and the necessity they were under, to make Use of it. The
British Interpretation of the Law of Nations, not only tends to Spread the flames
of War far and wide, when two maritime Powers are engaged, but it necessarily involves
all other commercial Nations in the solicitudes, Dangers, and Losses of the War. The
Russian Interpretation appears to me, to be So much for the good of Mankind though
it thwarts a little, the Ardour for the barbarous Glories of War, { 142 } that I doubt not it will be adopted by all Nations, as a great Improvement in the
Droit publique.2

I had the Pleasure of Some personal Acquaintance with Mr. Johnson at Nantes and the
Honour of many Civilities from him, when I was there, this time twelve months. I conceived
much esteem for him, and should hold myself under Obligations to him, for any Communications
he may be so good as to make to me. He has a numerous Correspondence, in America,
with Persons too who have the best Information, and as they are in a Part of the Continent,
where I have very few, it will freequently be in his Power to give me very refreshing
and usefull Intelligence. I am glad he has accepted the Trust, which is honourable,
tho it will probably be troublesome. I doubt not he will execute it, with Honour and
Fidelity.

I had heard before, of the Intention of Congress to draw, but not having the whole
of their Plan, and not knowing their funds, whatever may be my private Conjectures,
I can form no decided opinion about it.3

I rejoice, sir that your native Country has taken honourable Notice of you, and I
wish they had appointed you, without any Refinement, or Condition or Competition.
Mr. C[armichael] is otherwise employed. Mr. Johnson, Mr. Lloyd and Mr. Williams, may be all fit Persons
for any Thing I know. Who will be appointed, I cannot conjecture. It is a Speculation.
There are so many Arguments, on one side and the other, that I can conceive will occur
to the judge, that I rather think it will be a long time before, it can be accurately,
and mathematically determined, in which Scale the preponderating Weight will lay.
If I could be convinced that I could throw any Weight into the Scale, I should be
at no loss, into which to cast it.

I received a few Lines the 8. of April from Mr. Charmichael, which I answered and
deliverd to the Hand he pointed out the same day. I wrote to Mr. Jay, the 22d feb.4 and have received no answer. I should cultivate this Correspondence with Pleasure.

Hard hearted as I am against England I assure you I feel the stirrings of Humanity
for Clintons fleet and army. I had infinitely rather your Friend Gates should have
taken them all Prisoners.

But I feel an Anxiety of another Kind for the two Laurens's, and for our Country,
whose Interests suffer by their absence.

[salute] I have the Honour to be, with the greatest Respect and Esteem Dear sir, your faithful
sert

1. For the texts of the Russian memorial and the declaration of an armed neutrality,
see JA's letter of 10 April to the president of Congress (No. 40, above). The “Lyes of Seven Years growth” were the recurring rumors that
Russia was about to supply troops and/or naval vessels to Britain for use against
the Americans. JA had noted such reports as early as 15 March 1775 in a letter to James Warren (vol. 2:405), but in the end such fears proved groundless.
The shifting currents of European politics made any new Anglo-Russian alliance impossible,
despite British overtures to Catherine II as recently as Dec. 1779 (De Madariaga, Armed Neutrality of 1780, p. 4–5, 121–139; see also JA to the president of Congress, 20 Feb., No. 7, and note 2, vol. 8:346–347). For the end of such rumors, see JA's letter of 26 April to the president of Congress, (No. 53, below).

2. Compare this observation on the impact of the armed neutrality with that in JA's letter of 14 April to the president of Congress (No. 44, calendared above).

This is a summary of a document and does not contain a transcription. If it is available
elsewhere in this digital edition, a page number link will be provided below in the
paragraph beginning "Printed."

To the President of Congress, No. 45

In this letter, received by Congress on 19 Feb. 1781, John Adams included newspaper
accounts from Hamburg, Leghorn, Madrid, Paris, and London on a variety of subjects,
including the League of Armed Neutrality, Russia's formal declaration of armed neutrality
in major European capitals, preparations for a military expedition from Cádiz, and
Adams' own arrival in Europe to negotiate peace with Great Britain. The bulk of the
letter, however, was devoted to a London newspaper article advancing a “Plan of Pacification,”
said to be sponsored by the Rockingham Whigs and aimed at ending the American war,
and another London article opposing Rockingham.

To Gabriel de Sartine

I have received the two Letters which your Excellency did me the Honour to write me,
on the fifth and on the twelfth of this Month.1

I do not mean to give your Excellency the Trouble of answering, these Letters of mine,
which contain Extracts of Letters from abroad, or simple News. This would be giving
your Excellency too much trouble and taking up too much Time. Indeed, I think it will
very probably be often if not always, unnecessary, because, your Excellencies Information
must be, beyond all Comparison earlier more exact and more particular than mine. Yet
as it is, possible that sometimes a Circumstance, of importance may escape, one Channel
of Intelligence and yet pass in another, I thought it my duty sometimes to send your
Excellency an Extract. In this View I have the Honour to send your Excellency, another
Extract from a Letter of the 6th. of { 144 } this Month.2 I pray your Excellency not to take the trouble to answer it. I have the Honour to
be, with the greatest Respect and Consideration, your Excellencys most obedient and
most humble servant

1. JA probably means Sartine's letter of 15 April (Adams Papers), since no letter of the 12th has been found. For the letter of 15 April as well
as that of the 5th (Adams Papers), both of which were replies to JA's letter of 4 April (LbC, Adams Papers), see Thomas Digges to JA, 28 March, note 3; and William Lee to JA, 30 March, note 9 (both above).

2. The extract has not been found, but the content of Thomas Digges' letter of 6 April (above), makes it likely that it was taken from that letter.

Docno: ADMS-06-09-02-0108

Author: Logan, George

Recipient: Adams, John

Date: 1780-04-16

From George Logan

[dateline] London April 16: 1780

[salute] Dear Sir

I arrived safe in London after an agreeable journey of 7 Days. I delivered the paper
you entrusted with me to Mr. Diggs, but am sorry to inform you that it was found imperfect,
that part respecting the upper House being lost.1 This was certainly an original defect, as I was careful to deliver it in the manner
received from you. Several Gentlemen of both Houses have been favored with a sight
of it, and are much pleased with the liberal, and just principles on which it is founded.

I should send you the Papers and some political pamphlets by this opportunity but
Mr. Diggs informs me, he has sent you those meriting your attention. With respect
to Public affairs I may inform you, that they have a prosperous aspect for America.
It is most probable the troops will be withdrawn from that Country. This however is
not certain, as a continuance of the war is still a favourite object with the Ministry.
The people daily become more resolute in their demands that if America should rest
tranquil and carry on a defensive war in America as last year, it is probable the
good people of this Country will finish the business for them here.

I spoke to Mr. Alman to send you the political publications that appear in this Country,
regularly. I expect he will write you on this subject. I have sent you his paper of
yesterday. You will there observe the very impolitical conduct of the Lords. This
paper may answer your expectation better than any other should you wish to receive
them regularly.

As I wish to be in America as soon as possible, I am not determined, whether I shall
again return to Paris, or go by the St. Eustatia.

1. For the copy of The Report of a Constitution or Form of Government for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts sent to Digges by JA, see Digges' letter of 14 April, and note 2 (above).

2. Dr. George Logan, a Pennsylvania Quaker, received his medical degree at Edinburgh
in June 1779 and reached Paris in the winter of 1779–1780, during a European tour.
There he soon became a friend of Benjamin Franklin and a strong supporter of the American
cause. When he departed for London to obtain passage to America he carried letters
for Franklin as well as JA. Soon after writing this letter and one of the 15th to Franklin, Logan sailed for
home. George Logan is known best for his unauthorized diplomatic activities in 1798
that resulted in passage of the Logan Act prohibiting private American citizens from
engaging in diplomacy (DAB; Frederick B. Tolles, George Logan of Philadelphia, N.Y., 1953, p. 39–42; Cal.Franklin Papers, A.P.S., 2:238).

Docno: ADMS-06-09-02-0109

Author: Adams, John

Recipient: Huntington, Samuel

Recipient: President of Congress

Date: 1780-04-17

To the President of Congress, No. 46

[dateline] Paris April 17. 1780

[salute] Sir

Late Letters from Dantzick, imply that Commerce was become very languishing there,
for Some time, excepting for Ships timber, which bore a very good Price there, on
Account of the English, which they carried away, as well in their own Vessells as
those of Dantzick.

The new face, which the Affairs of Europe, are about to take, from the Alliance formed
between the Powers of the North, for the maintenance of an exact Neutrality, and to
which, People here are fully persuaded that the Republick of the united Provinces,
will agree, gives Occasion to conjectures, either that the War will be pushed this
year, with more Vivacity, than ever both by Land and by Sea, or that Peace will <not> be made, without delay. They Say, even that there may have been already Negotiations
commenced, on this Subject: That it is, by the Intervention of the King of Sardinia,
who would manage the Accommodation between the belligerent Powers, and that his present
Ambassador in France, is So much the better able to labour usefully, towards this
great Work, that having resided in England, in the same Quality, he has the Advantage
to know perfectly the Ministers and their System.1 However this may be, if there are Sometimes occasions, in which one may judge of
future Events, by an Examination of the present, and Reflection upon the past, might
one be taxed with Partiality, or temerity, if one ventured to lay it down, as a Fact,
that from the Beginning of the Contest, in which Great Britain, is at present engaged,
her Situation, has never appeared So { 146 } critical and So dangerous. In fact, as if it was not enough that She had quarrelled
with her Colonies; as if, it was not enough that She is at War with two Powers So
formidable as France and Spain in consequence of the quarrell with the Colonies: as
if her intestine Troubles, were not enough, which by dividing the nation, contribute
not a little to weaken it. At the End of the Perspective to See Ireland, at the first
moment, make as much of it, as the Americans, in declaring herself also independant:
In Spight of So many allarming Considerations, England Still Seems to Seek new Ennemies,
by attacking, without Distinction the Vessels of all the neutral nations, and even
of her allies. Thus, has She forced them, by this Proceeding not less arbitrary, than
inconceivable, especially in her present Circumstances, to make a League with each
other, for the maintenance of the Safety of the <nation> navigation of their respective Subjects, as well as of the Honour of their Flaggs
for which, they plainly acknowledge at this day, that they never could have hoped
for any Safety, if the English, who, embarass'd as they are, treat them nevertheless
with So little Ceremony, could ever recover that Superiority, whereof We cannot deny,
that they found means to put themselves in Possession, at the End of the last War.

But Such is the Fate of all human Things: To have, a Commencement, to acquire Successively
an Augmentation, which ought to be expected up to certain Bounds, beyond which they
must necessarily begin to decrease, untill they descend again to the Same Point from
whence they began; and no human Efforts can disturb this constant, and immutable order.
After this Declaration, let Us judge, whether in fact, this is not the Case of England,
and We may after this predict, very nearly, the Issue, of the present Events, or of
those which may take Place, in the Course of the Year.

By the English Papers Congress will See, the State of Parties in England, where the
Stubble is So dry, that the Smallest Spark, thrown into it, may set the whole Field
in a Blaze. Opposition, have carried tryumphantly, in the fullest house of Commons
ever known, by a Majority of Eighteen Votes, against the utmost Efforts of the Ministry,
the Resolutions.2 That it is necessary to declare, that the Influence of the Crown has increased, increases
and ought to be diminished. That it is in the Power of the House to take Cognizance
of, and to reform the Abuses, which may exist in the Employment of the civil List
Revennues, as well as all other publick Revennues: And that it is the Duty of the
House, to grant an effectual Redress to the Grievances, exposed in the Petitions presented
to the House, by the { 147 } different Cities, Counties and Towns of the Kingdom. And by the Speech of Mr. Fox
it will be Seen to what Soaring Heights this young Statesman, aspires.

Since My Arrival the last time, in Europe, I have had, Six and forty times, I think
the Honour of Writing to Congress: but it seems impossible to get a Letter across
the Atlantic. Many of my Letters have been waiting, long, at the seaports for a Passage,
but when they will obtain it I know not. If they all arrive, and Congress should be
able to see at one View the vast Chain, that is binding almost all Mankind, every
day closer and faster together, in opposition to the dangerous Power, and the intollerable
Passions of the English, they will see how many of the wisest Heads in the World are
at Work for their Safety and Glory, and have the Utmost Cause of Gratitude to Heaven
for ordering Events in the Course of his Providence, So decidedly in their favour.

I have the Honour to be, with the Sincerest Attachment, sir, your most faithfull and
obedient Servant

1. Nothing came of this rumored mediation by the King of Sardinia, Victor Amadeus III,
under which a truce would be proposed and independence granted to only a portion of
the American colonies, probably on the basis of uti possedetis. Filippo Maria Giuseppe Ottone, conte Ponte di Scarnafigi, had been the Sardinian
ambassador to Britain from 1769 to 1774 and had been at Paris since 1777 (Morris, Peacemakers, p. 94, 99; Repertorium der diplomatischen Vertreter aller Länder, 3:395).

2. On 6 April, after the Commons resolved itself into a committee of the whole to hear
petitions, John Dunning offered two resolutions and Thomas Pitt a third, the language
of which JA accurately paraphrased in the following two sentences. The first passed on a division
of 233-215 and the second and third were adopted without division. Lord North objected
to the entire proceeding, but could not prevent the committee from approving Charles
James Fox's motion to report the resolutions immediately to the House. Just before
the vote on Dunning's first resolution, Fox reportedly charged George III with having
brought about more distress to the nation than any previous sovereign, and declared
that “unless the motion should be agreed to, not only the committee, but the House,
ought never to sit again” (Parliamentary Hist., 21: 347, 362–364, 367–368). In a letter of 16 April, Edmund Jenings congratulated
JA on the outcome of the proceedings (Adams Papers).

Docno: ADMS-06-09-02-0110

Author: Adams, John

Recipient: Huntington, Samuel

Recipient: President of Congress

Date: 1780-04-18

This is a summary of a document and does not contain a transcription. If it is available
elsewhere in this digital edition, a page number link will be provided below in the
paragraph beginning "Printed."

To the President of Congress, No. 47

In this letter, received by Congress on 19 Feb. 1781, John Adams provided newspaper
accounts regarding a petition by Swedish merchants calling on their King to provide
protection for their commerce and the King's granting of their wish, as well as the
formal communication of the declaration of armed neutrality to the French court and
to the cities of Hamburg, Lübeck, and Bremen.

To the President of Congress, No. 48

[dateline] Paris April 18th. 1780

[salute] Sir

It is my Duty to transmit to Congress, as soon as Prudence will admit, every Thing
which deserves Consideration, as having either a direct or an indirect tendency to
Peace, or even to Negotiation for that important Object. The inclosed Letter has been
transmitted to Paris in such a Channel, that I have Reasons to believe it was particularly
intended for my Inspection. It is from a Gentleman, who, to do him Justice, has long
expressed an earnest desire of Peace, but who nevertheless, has never yet reflected
maturely enough upon the State of America, of Great Britain and of all Europe, to
get into a right Way of thinking concerning the proper Means to his End. Congress
will percieve it, from the Letter itself, in which it is obvious enough.1

The first remarkable Sentiment is “We must, at all Events support our national Honor,
by the most vigorous Exertions, without shrinking: but surely, in such a complicated
War, as this is, if we can make any equitable Offers of Treaty to any of the Parties,
common Prudence calls upon Us, to use our Endeavors, to unravel by Negotiation, the
Combination of Powers now acting against Us.” In this Paragraph, I see the manifest
Marks of a Mind that has not yet mastered its Subject. True Policy would have omitted
every thing in this Letter, which should call up to the Minds of the People, the Ideas
of National Honor. Every Man in the World, who is thoroughly acquainted with the Subject,
knows, that Great Britain never can obtain a Peace, without a Diminution of her Honor
and Dignity. It is impossible without Miracles, and therefore the Englishman who undertakes
to plan for Peace, must be convinced of this and take it into his Plan, and consequently
should avoid with the utmost Caution every Word, which should excite these Ideas in
the Minds of the People. For People cannot bear the Ideas of national Disgrace. They
stir Passions which make them mad.

He should have avoided with equal Solicitude, every Insinuation of a design to unravel
by Negotiation, the Combination of Powers, now acting against Great Britain. This
Combination, is in fact, much more extensive, much more universal, and formidable,
than the Letter writer had any Idea, or Suspicion of. But if it had been no more extensive
than France, Spain and America, the Impracticability of unravelling it, ought to have
been too obvious and too clear; for the { 149 } Writer to have thrown out this Sentiment. By it, he proposes by Negotiation to bring
those to dishonour themselves, who have certainly no Occasion for it, at the same
time that he stimulates others to cherish and preserve their Honor, who have already
lost it, and under an absolute Necessity, sooner or later of sacrificing it. By this
Means, he only puts the Confederates more upon their Guard, and renders the Attainment
of his professed Object, Peace, impossible.

The next Solecism in Politicks, that he commits, is undertaking to vindicate America
from the Charge of having sought and formed this Confederacy. America wanted no such
Vindication. It is folly to suppose it a Fault, for all Mankind will agree, even his
Correspondents themselves, that it was Wisdom and Virtue. Surely another Turn must
be given to popular Ideas, before they will be brought to petition for Peace.

Nor do I think, it was prudent in him to hold up, that America had proceeded with
Regret and Reluctance to the Treaty. That this is true I know and feel to this very
Moment: for although I had no such Reluctance myself, those Gentlemen with whom I
had the Honor to sit in Congress at the time will remember that I had very good Reasons
to be sensible that others had. But, how well soever he might be informed of the Fact,
and from what Source soever he might draw his Information, it was bad Policy in him
to hold it up, because he ought to have been equally sure, that America has now no
Reluctance to the Treaty, nor any Inclination to violate it. He ought not therefore
to have held up a Hope of this to the People.

Neither ought he to have flattered the People with Hopes, that America would not form
any perpetual Alliance with France, nor that their limited Alliance might be satisfied
and discharged. The Alliance already made is limited it is true, to a certain Number
of Articles, but not limited in its Duration. It is perpetual; and he had no Grounds
to sooth the People with Hopes either that France would give up any of the Articles
of the Treaty, or that America would violate them.

He ought also to have avoided his Insinuations, that America has been so much harrassed
by the War. This is an Idea too refreshing to the present Passions of the People of
England, that instead of tending to dispose them to Peace, it only revives their Hopes
of Success, and inflames their Ardour for War. That America has been harrassed by
the War, is true, and when was any Nation at War without being so? especially when
did any Nation undergo a Revolution in Government and sustain a War at the same time
without it? Yet after all America has not been so much harrassed, or distressed, { 150 } or terrified, or panic struck from the Beginning, as Great Britain has been, several
times in the Course of it.

But the most exceptionable Passage of all is this. “It is apparent to all the World,
that France might long ago, have put an End to that part of the War, which has been most
distressing to America, if She had chosen so to do. Let the whole System of France be considered, from the
very Beginning, down to the late Retreat from Savannah, and I think it is impossible
to put any other Construction upon it, but this, viz, that it has always been the
deliberate Intention and Object of France, for purposes of their own, to encourage
the Continuation of the War in America, in Hopes of exhausting the Strength and Resources of this Country, and of depressing the rising
Power of America.”

Upon this Paragraph, I scarcely know what Remarks to make. But after deliberating
upon it, as patiently and maturely as I can, I will clearly write my Opinion of it,
for my Obligations to Truth, and to my Country are antecedent and superior to all
other Ties.

I am clearly and fully of Opinion then, that the Fact is true, that France might have
put an End to that part of the War, which has been most distressing to America: and
I certainly knew that the means were extreamly simple and obvious, and that they were
repeatedly proposed and explained and urged to the Ministry; and I should have had
a terrible Load of Guilt of Negligence of my Duty upon my Conscience if it had not
been done, while I had the Honor of a Commission to this Court.2 But when the Letter Writer proceeds so far as to say, that it was to encourage the Continuance of the War, in Order to exhaust the Strength and Resources of Great
Britain, I cannot accompany him, much less can I join with him in the Opinion, that
it was to depress the rising Power of America.

I believe on the contrary, that France has not wished a Continuance of the War, but
that She has wished for Peace. The War has been attended, with too much Loss and Danger
to France, to suppose that She wished its Continuance, and if She did not wish its
Continuance at all, She could not wish it to depress the Power of America.

She could not wish it, in my opinion, for this End, because it is not the means to
this End. It has a contrary Tendency. The longer this War is continued in America,
the more will Americans become habituated to the Characters of the Soldier and the
Marine. Military Virtues and Talents and Passions will gain Strength, and additional
Activity every Year, while the War lasts, and the more these Virtues, Talents and
Passions are multiplied, the deeper will be the Foundations of American Power be laid,
and the more dangerous will it { 151 } become, to some or other of the Powers of Europe, to France as likely as any other,
because it will be more likely to be ambitious, enterprising and to aspire at Conquests
by Sea and Land.

This Idea however, deserves to be considered, with all the Attention that Americans
can give it. Although I am convinced by every thing I see, and read and hear, that
all the Powers of Europe, except perhaps the House of Austria, and I am not very clear
in that Exception, rejoice in the American Revolution, and consider the Independence
of America as for their Interest and Happiness, in many Points of View, both respecting
Commerce and the Ballance of Europe, yet I have many Reasons to think that not one
of them, not even Spain nor France, wishes to see America rise very fast to Power.
We ought therefore to be cautious how we magnify our Ideas and exaggerate our Expressions
of the Generosity and Maganimity of any of these Powers. Let us treat them with Gratitude,
but with Dignity. Let us remember what is due to ourselves and our Posterity, as well
as to them. Let us above all things, avoid as much as possible, entangling ourselves
with their Wars or Politicks. Our Business with them and theirs with Us, is Commerce,
not Politicks, much less War. America has been the Sport of European Wars and Politicks
long enough.3

I think, however, that this Letter Writer, was very much mistaken in his Judgment,
when he threw out this Language of his. It could be meant only to excite a Jealousy
and a Quarrel between France and America, or rather, to feed the Yorkshire People,
and the People of England with a Hope of exciting such a Quarrel. This is not the
Way to come at Peace. They will never succeed in such a Plan, and every attempt towards
it is false Policy.

The next Mistake is the Idea of a Reconciliation and federal Union with America. This
must be intended to seperate Us from our Allies, which this Gentleman ought, before
now, to have known is totally impracticable.

I have very little more Relish for the Notion of a Truce. We are in a safer Way at
War. We cannot make a Truce without France. She will never consent that We should
make a Truce, unless She makes Peace: and such Alterations may be made in the Constitutions
of the Courts of France and Spain, and in the other Courts and political Connections
in Europe, before the Expiration of the Term of the Truce, that it would be attended
with too much hazard to Us. Neither France nor Spain, nor the other Powers of Europe
might, after a Truce, be ready to go to War again: unforeseen Divisions may be { 152 } excited among ourselves by artful Emissaries from England. We are going on now in
the sure and certain Road: if we go out of it, We may be lost.

Upon the whole; I think that this Letter Writer should have stated the true Situation
of Europe, of Great Britain, Ireland and America.

From this State, his immediate Conclusion should have been, open Conferences for Peace:
make Peace with all the World upon the best Terms You can—this is the only Chance
You have for Salvation.

It must come to this, very soon; otherwise, there will be a total Dissolution of the
British Empire.

I have the Honor to be, with the greatest Respect and Esteem, Sir, your most obedient
and most humble Servant,

1. This is David Hartley's letter of 21 March to the chairman of the Committee of the
County of York, a copy of which JA enclosed with this letter. The copy of Hartley's letter used by JA has not been found, but was probably that which Thomas Digges, in a letter of 6 April
to Benjamin Franklin, indicated that he was sending, at Hartley's request, to Franklin
under another cover (Digges, Letters, p. 185–189). Hartley's letter was published at London on or about 13 April as one
of Two Letters from David Hartley, esq. M.P. Addressed to the Committee of the County
of York (London Courant, 13 April). Thomas Digges sent JA a copy of that pamphlet on 25 April (from Thomas Digges, 8 June).

David Hartley was, in JA's view, a well intentioned but ineffectual member of Parliament, without the power
or influence to materially effect British policy toward the war in America (see JA's letters of 23 March to the president of Congress, No. 23; and of 28 March to Edmund Jenings, both above). Despite their good intentions, Hartley and others
who actually wanted to end the war in America displayed the same unwillingness to
face reality that afflicted the British government and people in general and made
it extremely unlikely that Anglo-American peace negotiations would occur anytime soon.
For a clear expression of the position held by Hartley and others, which so frustrated
JA, see the “Bill for Conciliation” that Hartley unsuccessfully sought to introduce in Parliament on 27 June (Descriptive
List of Illustrations, vol. 10, below) and Hartley's letter of 17 July (below). JA's letter to Congress containing his strictures on Hartley's proposal was not published,
but is similar to pieces that he wrote in May, June, and July that were printed in
Paris and London (JA to Edmé Jacques Genet, 17 and 28 May; “Letters from a Distinguished American,” [ante 14–22 July], all below). All of them reflect JA's reading of Thomas Pownall's A Memorial Most Humbly Addressed to the Sovereigns of Europe, on the Present State
of Affairs, Between the Old and New World, London, 1780, which he had received on or about 15 April (A Translation of Thomas
Pownall's Memorial, 19 April – [ca. 14 July], Editorial Note, below). The rebuttal of Hartley can be seen as the first step in a struggle to convince
the British people and, through them, their government that peace would result only
from an acknowledgment of American independence and that such an action, far from
being detrimental to British interests, was the only means by which Britain could
maintain its status among nations. From an examination of that effort it is possible
to follow the development in 1780, not only of JA's attitude toward peace negotiations and the Anglo-American relationship that would
result from them, but also his view of { 153 } the United States' position within the international community for the foreseeable
future.

2. JA is referring to his proposal that the French greatly increase their naval presence
in American waters to achieve local superiority over the British fleet. He repeatedly
had urged this on the French government (see, in particular, vol. 7, Commissioners
to Vergennes, [ante 20] Dec. 1778 – [ante 9] Jan. 1779, and Editorial Note) and would renew his efforts in correspondence with Vergennes in July (vols. 7:292–311;
8: index; JA to Vergennes, 13 July, below).

3. This is the clearest, most succinct statement yet made by JA of what he considered the proper course of American foreign policy. He held to it
steadfastly for the remainder of his life.

Docno: ADMS-06-09-02-0112

Author: Lee, William

Recipient: Adams, John

Date: 1780-04-18

From William Lee

[dateline] Bruxelles Aprl. 18. 1780

Walsingham with 6 Ships of the line, the troops and the W. India fleet pass'd Plimo.
the 8th. and Graves with 7 Ships of the line left St. Helens the 10th. to follow him,
and as the winds have been since, Graves having only his 7 Ships and Walsingham a
large fleet there is no doubt of their having join'd, but I do not learn with certainty
the real destination, of Walsingham and his troops. By the Gazettes it appears that
Monsr. Tiernay will be sailing about this time with only 6 Ships so that most probably
he will meet Graves in his return, therefore he may chance to share the same fate
as the E. India Convoy, unless he is escorted to some distance by an additional number
of Ships, for Graves's Squadron consists of 90, 80 and 74 Gun Ships. I thank you for
your favor of the 13th. which I received yesterday; the infatuation of our Enemies
is evidently the work of Providence for their conduct is precisely that of Phaoroh
with respect to the Israelites and I much doubt of a speedy Peace for the measure
of their punishment is not yet full. When I was among them they appeared insensible
enough, but they are now totally dead to all feeling. The Declaration of Russia and
the movement of all the maritime powers of Europe, has not created, that I can perceive,
a single emotion either in the ministry or opposition, therefore we have nothing to
do but to beat them into their senses. If they have, or do make any overtures of Peace
now it will most probably be with a design of dilaying and retarding the operations
and plans of F[rance] and S[pain] 'till the Season is too far advanced to effectuate anything decisive this Campaign
but I trust that our Friends have too much Sagacity to be duped by such bunglers as
the B. Ministry. The conduct of Spain has arisen from various causes, which have been
very evident to those that have attentively observ'd the business; but there is no
occasion now for entering into those particulars; however as I am well satisfied that
every material point has been thoroughly { 154 } digested long since, there can be no great field for negotiation now at Madrid on
either side. It is said that the British Cabinet in pursuance of their darling system
of Coercion, have resolv'd in the Cabinet not to yeild to the claim of the Irish People
to a Free Constitution. As Clinton was not heard of in the W. I. the beginning of
March, nor in Virga., 'tis probable that the greatest part of his fleet has arriv'd,
at their destination at Tybée and that we shall hear of another attack on Chas. Town.
5 of his fleet, as far as I know, have only been accounted for, 1 driven to Engd.
2 to the W. Indias, 1 founder'd off Bermudas and 1 carried into Chas. Town.

LbC (ViHi: Lee Family Papers). The top one-third of the MS page is faded and two large X's cover portions of the dateline, greeting, and first
line of text. The absence of a recipient's copy in the Adams Papers makes it unlikely
that this letter was sent.

Docno: ADMS-06-09-02-0113

Author: Adams, John

Recipient: Franklin, Benjamin

Date: 1780-04-19

To Benjamin Franklin

[dateline] Paris April 19. 1780

[salute] Dear sir

I have been informed,1 that the State of Maryland, have named Mr. Charmichael, Mr. Johnson, Mr. Williams,
Mr. Lloyd and Mr. Jennings, as proper Persons, out of whom they have desired, your
Excellency to choose one, in order to draw out of the English Funds a Sum of Money,
they have there, for which the Agent is to have two and an half per Cent.

Mr. Charmichael, is otherwise employed, Mr. Johnson, Mr. Williams, and Mr. Lloyd are
all proper Persons, but perhaps they may be otherwise employed too, except Mr. Lloyd,
whose fortune, both by himself and his Wife is so ample that it may be no Object.

Mr. Jennings, who is not less qualified than any of them, is a Gentleman of Learning,
and Abilities, who has left his Affairs from a Love to his Country to whose service,
he devotes his Time. He is now at Brussells. As he is a native of Maryland, perhaps
his Pretentions may upon the whole, be superiour to those of others, or this Sentiment
may be the Dictate of the Esteem and friendship I conceived for him on Account of
his Candor, when I was here before.

I intreat your Excellency, not to consider this, as a desire to dictate in a matter
in which I have not right nor Colour, to interfere, and therefore ought to ask your
Pardon, for presuming to advise.

If your Excellencys decision should fall upon, any of the other Gentlemen I shall
be perfectly content and think no more of it. I { 155 } have the Honour to be with, the greatest Respect, sir your most obedient and most
humble sert.

To Edmund Jenings

I have only time at present, to beg the favour of you, to procure the inclosed, to
be inserted in all the English newspapers.2 There is not a Circumstance exagerated, and the half is not told.

RC with enclosure (Adams Papers); notation on back of enclosure: “printed in the English Papers.”

1. For the possibility that JA wrote two letters to Jenings on 19 April, see Jenings' letter of 24 April, and note 1 (below).

2. This description of JA's journey through northern Spain was printed in a slightly altered form in the London
General Advertiser & Morning Intelligencer for 1 May. For JA's critique of the printed version, see his letter to Edmé Jacques Genet of 11 May (below). The account should be compared with those in JA's Diary and his Autobiography (JA, Diary and Autobiography, 2:400–434; 4:191–241) and his letters of 11 Dec. 1779 and 16 Jan. 1780 to the president of Congress (same,
4:195–196, 230–236204–206; vol. 8:295–296, 310–311, calendar entries).

Docno: ADMS-06-09-02-0114-0002

Author: Adams, John

Recipient: Jenings, Edmund

Date: 1780-04-19

Enclosure: A Newspaper Article

Mr. Adams, Mr. Dana, and Mr. Thaxter, who are arrived, at Paris, came from Boston,
in the French Frigate, the Sensible, which had the Misfortune to Spring a Leak, Soon
after She Sailed, which increased to Such a degree, that they were obliged to keep
two Pumps, constantly going by night and day, the passengers taking their turns, altho,
the Crew consisted of Three hundred and fifty men. Captain Chavagne (who spent three
months in Boston, and is highly pleased with the Reception he met there) found it
necessary to make the first Land, which happening to be Cape Finisterre, he put into
Ferrol, where these american Citizens met with the most cordial Reception, from the
Comte de Sade, who commanded a Squadron of French Men of War, then in that harbour,
and from the other officers, both French and Spanish, as well as from the French Consul
and Vice Consul, and especially from Don Joseph St. Vincent, the General, who commanded,
at that time the Spanish Marine at Ferrol. After Spending a few days in this place,
and viewing the dry docks, Arsenals and Fortifications with the Strength and Magnificence
of which the Gentlemen were very much Struck, they went to the Groin,1 where they were treated with all imaginable Politeness, by Mr. Lagoanere, the American
Agent, by Mr. Detournelle the french Consul, by the Kings officers in general, particularly
by the officers of the Irish Regiments, by the Administrator of the Revenue, by the
Attorney General, by the Regent, or Chief Justice of the grand Audience, by the Governor
of the Town of Corunna, and above all by Don Pedro Martin Cermonio, Vice Roy, of the
Kingdom of Galicia. { 156 } This great officer, in whom in his Department is united all the Royal Authority, civil,
political and military, accompanied, by the Kings Lieutenant, or the Governor of the
Town of Corunna, and Several other officers, made a Visit to Mr. Adams at his Lodgings,
the next Morning after his Arrival, to make him, his Compliments, and to offer him
every Assistance in his Power. He offered to order Carriages &c to be provided; to
furnish a Guide, who could Speak, English as well as Spanish and French, who understood
the Roads and the manner of travelling; and to send a guard of Soldiers who should
attend him, in his whole Journey, through the Kingdom: all which was declined, as
the American Agent, had undertaken every Thing of this sort: and as to the Guards,
they had no Apprehensions of Ennemies or Dangers in Spain. The Vice Roy Said that
in any Thing that depended upon him Mr. Adams had but to command him: that all he
had Said, and all that he had offered, was from himself: but he would further inform
him, that in this he was pursuing his public duty, as well as his private Inclination
for that he had received express orders from the King to treat all Americans who should
come to that place as the best Friends of Spain. All the Gentlemen in Company, had
the Honour of dining with the Vice Roy, and of frequent Visits, in all which he was
extreamly, tho politely inquisitive, about every Thing that related to America, especially
concerning the Union and Disposition of the People; their Sentiments towards England
France and Spain; the nature of their Revenues; the Terms of their Confederation;
and the forms of their new Governments; Subjects, upon which he appeared to have,
very much reflected, and in which, as few Men have had more opportunities to know,
than these Gentlemen, few are better qualified to give exact Information. He was further
anxious to know, the Family, Age, Character, and every thing that related to Mr. Jay,
the minister plenipotentiary for the Court of Madrid, concerning whom, as Mr. Adams
had been intimately acquaintd with him from the Year 1774, he was able to Satisfy
his Curiosity, and to give Mr. Jay, that respectable Character, that the high offices,
he has held in his State and in Congress, as well as his own personal Virtues and
Abilities merit.

In short they were told by many Gentlemen, that no Ambassador, from any the oldest
and most powerful state in Europe, not even from France, would have been treated with
more Ceremony, nor with equal Attention, Affability and Friendship, and that all this
was intended to manifest to America and to the World, the Benevolence of Spain towards
the United States.

In their Journey, through Betanzos, Lugo, Asterga, Leon, Burgos, they met every where
with Similar Attention and Respect; and particularly from the several Branches of
the House of Guardoqui, at Bilbao.2 Mr. Adams received Letters and Messages, from Alicante, Asterga, Bilbao, Madrid,
Bourdeaux and Bayonne, from Bankers and others, offering him any sums of Money he
might Want, in the Idea that as he had been unexpectedly cast upon the Spanish Coast,
and had to make the Journey to Paris by Land, with a considerable Number of Persons
in his suit, he might not possibly be provided with Cash. But if they had been themselves
unprovided the American Agent, was not only able and ready to supply them, but would
have taken it unkindly, if they had laid themselves under obligation to any other
in this respect. They were not the less sensible, however of the personal Obligations
they were under, for these genteel Proposals, nor the less gratefull for the Attention
of Gentlemen to the Honour of the United States.

The content of all or some notes that appeared on this page in the printed volume
has been moved to the end of the preceding document.

Editorial Note

John Adams' letter of 19 April 1780 to the president of Congress (No. I, below), constitutes his redaction of Thomas
Pownall's pamphlet entitled A Memorial, Most Humbly Addressed to the Sovereigns of Europe, on the Present { 158 } State of Affairs, Between the Old and New World, London, 1780. In July, Adams used his Letterbook copy to produce a manuscript (No. II, below) that, considerably revised from that of the letter, served as the text for
two published versions: Pensées sur la révolution de l'Amérique-Unie, extraites de l'ouvrage anglois, intitulé
mémoire, addressé aux souverains de l'Europe, sur l'état présent des affaires de l'ancien
and du nouveau-monde, Amsterdam, 1780; and A Translation of the Memorial to the Sovereigns of Europe upon the Present State of
Affairs Between the Old and New World into Common Sense and Intelligible English, London, 1781.

The letter of 19 April and the revised, published versions of it are crucial to understanding the development
of John Adams' views regarding an Anglo-American peace settlement, the Franco-American
alliance, and the future position of the United States in European affairs. Almost
without exception, his later writings on foreign policy and his actions as a diplomat
reflect his reading of the Memorial. Adams testified to the impact of Pownall's thinking in his letter to Edmund Jenings
of 18 July (below), and the truth of his assertion is evident in his published replies to speeches
made in the House of Commons in early May by Gen. Henry Seymour Conway and Lord George
Germain (to Edmé Jacques Genet, 17 and 28 May, both below); his “Letters from a Distinguished American,” published in 1782,
but written in June and July 1780 ([ante 14–22 July], below); and his exchanges with the Comte de Vergennes in June and July over Congress'
monetary policy, the exercise of his commissions, and the adequacy of French assistance
to the American cause (below).

It is not an overstatement to say that the Memorial had more influence on John Adams' views of foreign policy than any other single published
work. This does not mean that Pownall's pamphlet was the source of Adams' ideas concerning
the relationship between the United States, Britain, France, and the European community
in general. Those were the product of his evolution from a loyal subject of the British
Empire to a revolutionary committed to independence and can be traced from his “Dissertation
on the Canon and the Feudal Law” of 1765 (vol. 1:103–128) through his Plan of Treaties
of 1776 (vol. 4:260–302) to his experience as a diplomat since 1778. Instead, the
Memorial was the catalyst that brought together the diverse threads of Adams' thinking to
form a coherent and unified theory regarding the proper course for the foreign policy
of the United States that, with few exceptions, he adhered to for the rest of his
life.

Thomas Pownall had extensive, practical experience in colonial administration. Between
1753 and 1760, he served successively as secretary to the governor of New York, lieutenant
governor of New Jersey, secretary to the commander in chief of British forces in America,
and governor of Massachusetts. As governor of Massachusetts from 1757 to 1760, the
climactic years of the French and Indian War, Pownall proved to be an energetic and
popular executive. He vigorously prosecuted the war and, in order to gain support
for his efforts, courted the popular party. This alienated conservatives, such as
Thomas Hutchinson, and ultimately their complaints as well { 159 } as the perception in London that Pownall was surrendering executive prerogatives to
the assembly led to his recall (DAB; DNB). Members of Massachusetts' popular party lamented Pownall's departure, and John
Adams later described him as “a friend to liberty and to our constitution,” with “an
aversion to all plots against either” (vol. 2:235). Thomas Pownall never again served
in America as an administrator, but he drew on his experience there to produce the
work for which he is most noted: The Administration of the Colonies (London, 1764, with five revised editions through 1777; Pownall presented Adams with
a signed copy of the 1777 edition, Catalogue of JA's Library).

Pownall's Administration offered a prescription for solving Britain's problems in governing its American empire
that was well reasoned and even farsighted. Its roots lay in the Albany Congress of
1754, at which Pownall had become convinced that some sort of colonial union was necessary.
By the time he set to work on his Administration, Pownall believed that the existing system of colonial administration, unable to
deal adequately with the growing economic strength of the colonies, had failed and
a crisis existed.

In Administration, Pownall was clear about where he stood. Although he expressed sympathy for the colonists
and confidence in their ultimate loyalty to the Crown and empire, which later led
him to oppose ministerial efforts at taxation and coercion and even to advocate American
seats in the House of Commons, there was no question in Pownall's mind that it was
the mother country around whom the colonies revolved and for whose benefit they existed.
Great Britain needed a unified system of administration to render the colonies an
economic asset rather than a constant drain on its resources. It was “the precise duty of government at this crisis” to take “leading measures towards the forming all those
Atlantic and American possessions into one Empire of which Great Britain should be
the commercial and political center” (5th edn., 1774, p. 10).

The Memorial Addressed to the Sovereigns of Europe proceeded directly from The Administration of the Colonies, with much of the text of the Memorial's opening paragraphs taken from the Administration (No. I, see note 2, below). Like the earlier work, the Memorial sought to resolve the crisis produced by the growing economic importance of North
America, that is, the United States. But in his Memorial, Pownall proposed that Britain recognize that the colonies were finally and irretrievably
lost and had become a sovereign, independent state of great economic potential. Only
by adopting the principles of free trade and forming a commercial relationship that
would return Anglo-American trade to its normal channels could Britain avoid displacement
as an economic power. Finally, since Pownall saw access to the American markets as
a European problem, he called for the convening of a council of European nations that
would provide for the orderly integration of the new nation into the existing economic
and political order by lowering the barriers to free trade and liberalizing the law
of nations.

Pownall cited and quoted from the works of several authors to support { 160 } his arguments. His views on the nature and power of the state were based on his reading
of Francis Bacon's unfinished essay “Of the True Greatness of the Kingdom of Britain”
(No. I, notes 6, 9, 11, and 21, below). Benjamin Franklin was the source for his statistics on the population and
growth of the colonies (same, note 18), while his views on the future course of American foreign policy and the commercial
and political relationship between the United States and Europe reflect those of Thomas
Paine writing as “Common Sense” (same, notes 26 and 28). On the issue of trade regulation he turned to Sir Matthew Decker (same, note 50); and Henry IV's “grand design” to unify Europe, as expressed in the Memoirs of Maximilien de Béthune, was the model for his plan to achieve a unified European
response to the emergence of the United States as an economic power (same, notes 44 and 52). But what most sets the Memorial apart from the Administration, as well as other works of the period, is the pervasive influence of Adam Smith's
Wealth of Nations (2 vols., London, 1776). Pownall had given Smith's work an unfavorable review in
1776, largely because at that time he was still a vigorous defender of the colonial
monopoly (Thomas Pownall, A Letter from Governor Pownall to Adam Smith, LLD, F.R.S. . . ., London, 1776, p. 7–8, 26–27). By 1780 his views had clearly changed, for on page
113 of the Memorial he cites Smith as the source for a quotation, and Smith's influence is evident throughout
the Memorial, not only in those sections dealing with the workings of the economic system and
free trade, but also in those touching on the relationship between the colonies and
the mother country (No. I, note 39, below).

John Adams agreed wholeheartedly with much of the Memorial. He could have written those sections dealing with the rise of the United States
as an economic and political power, the progress of American civilization, and the
new nation's determination to trade with all nations while forming political connections
with none, and in fact inserted those sections into the letter of 19 April (No. I, below) and the later published versions (No. II, below) virtually without change. Moreover, when Pownall wrote of the oppressive
hand of the church and the nobility on European economic and political development
he echoed John Adams' own words in the “Dissertation on the Canon and the Feudal Law”
(vol. 1:103–128). This likely led Adams to write to Edmund Jenings on 20 April (below), requesting that he republish the “Dissertation” in England.

But the Memorial also differed fundamentally from other British proposals for settling the war with
America. For the first time a British writer in whom Adams had confidence argued that
Great Britain's economic self-interest demanded that it make peace and that it do
so at once. Previous proposals had all been based on one or more of the following
premises: the colonies would be exhausted by the war and sue for peace; the Anglo-American
ties of language, religion, and culture would lead the Americans to renounce their
French connection and return to the imperial fold; Britain would offer concessions
acceptable to the Americans and the war would end. In each case it was assumed that
the Americans would see that it was { 161 } in their self-interest to make peace because only disaster would result from continuing
the war. Pownall, however, rejected those assumptions and argued that by declaring
independence the United States had unilaterally repealed the navigation acts and opened
its markets to Britain's commercial rivals, led by France. If Britain did not act,
it risked permanent exclusion from those markets and thus from access to resources
of the New World.

This was similar to Adams' thinking when he drafted the Treaty Plan of 1776. He believed
then, and continued to believe even after the treaty of alliance was signed, that
there was no need to offer France a political alliance because access to American
markets formalized in a commercial treaty was incentive enough for French military
and financial assistance (Plan of Treaties, 12 June–17 Sept. 1776, Editorial Note, 4:260–261). In the Memorial Adams found Pownall making a similar argument: that access to the American markets
was incentive enough to force Britain to seek an immediate peace. The most compelling
evidence of the Memorial's influence on John Adams is the fact that this position, as developed and refined
by Pownall, formed the core of Adams' argument in his rebuttal of Joseph Galloway's
Cool Thoughts in the “Letters from a Distinguished American” ([ante 14–22 July], below).

On only one issue did Adams clearly disagree with Pownall. This was over Pownall's
call for the establishment of a council of European powers to resolve the issues raised
by the American Revolution. Pownall saw the integration of the New World, with its
new found economic and political power, into the existing European system as a crisis
that could be resolved only by the agreement of the nations meeting in council. John
Adams believed, however, that any problem resulting from the rise of the United States
as a political and economic power was Britain's alone. The rest of Europe, led by
France, was coming or already had come to terms with the new economic and political
order. To resolve its problem, Britain needed only to recognize the United States
as independent and sovereign, and form a commercial relationship with the new nation.
This would bring it into step with the rest of Europe, end its isolation, and make
it part of the new economic and political order of which Pownall wrote. Any council
of sovereign states dealing even peripherally with political issues or setting conditions
by which the United States would be integrated into the European system was unnecessary
and even dangerous. This reflected Adams' long held belief, ably expressed by Pownall
in his Memorial, that the United States should seek only commercial, not political, connections with
Europe. The only sort of council acceptable to Adams was one that would remove trade
barriers, such as the exclusion of foreign ships from the colonial trade in peacetime,
or liberalize the law of nations by instituting such principles as free ships make
free goods. John Adams, therefore, drastically revised the portion of Pownall's Memorial that called for a European council.

John Adams first learned of the Memorial from Thomas Digges' letter of 6 April (above, but see also Edmund Jenings' letter of 19 March, and note 3, above), in which Digges identified Pownall as the author. Digges also { 162 } indicated that he was sending a copy of the pamphlet to Benjamin Franklin, with a
request that it be passed on to Adams when Franklin was finished Digges to Franklin,
(6 April, Digges, Letters, p. 185–189). It seems likely, from Adams' reply of 15 April (above), that both letters of 6 April had arrived and that soon thereafter Adams
borrowed the Memorial from Franklin, read it, and set to work, condensing Pownall's 127-page text to about
half its size in just four days. This despite the fact that between 15 and 19 April,
Adams wrote ten letters, four of them to the president of Congress, including that
of 18 April in which the influence of the Memorial is clearly evident (No. 48, and note 1, above). There is no evidence that when Adams wrote his letter to the president,
he had any plans to publish his text, although considering the time and effort he
spent on it, such a thought may have been in the back of his mind.

The task of revising Pownall's Memorial was daunting, even if one considers only the time spent copying and recopying the
text, not to mention the substantive textual changes that Adams made. The effort was
necessary, however, because while Adams saw Pownall's arguments as important, he believed
that the Memorial's turgid and idiosyncratic prose obscured them and diminished their impact. The letter
to the president of Congress (No. I, below) fills thirteen closely written pages. The points at which Adams omitted significant
blocks of the Memorial's text or made substantive changes in Pownall's prose are indicated in the notes.
John Adams' Letterbook copy in John Thaxter's hand (Adams Papers) fills thirty-four pages and is identical to the recipient's copy except for Thaxter's
copying errors and some insertions by Adams to correct them. No draft has been found
and John Adams may have composed the letter to Congress directly from the Memorial.

In early July, John Adams decided to publish his revision of Pownall's Memorial. Using his Letterbook copy, he reworked and revised the manuscript (No. II, below) to produce a shorter and more clearly focused version. This became the text
that appeared as Pensées and Translation of the Memorial. Adams removed material that he, upon reconsideration, thought extraneous or, in
the case of Pownall's proposal for a European council, to more sharply emphasize his
argument at the expense of Pownall's. It is noteworthy that Pownall's references to
“the new World,” which were retained in the letter, became “America” in the manuscript
and instead of “North America” being “a new primary planet,” it was the “Congress of the United States of North America,” that filled that role.

John Adams made two copies of the text that were ultimately published, but only that
sent to Edmund Jenings has survived. A second copy sent by Adams to M. Addenet, a
Parisian translator, has not been found, nor has the manuscript of Addenet's French
translation that Jean Luzac used for Pensées. The surviving manuscript consists of five parts, each separately titled, that together
fill nineteen pages. Edmund Jenings received the first four with Adams' letter of
8 July (Adams Papers), while the fifth likely was enclosed in Adams' letter of the 14th (below; but see Jenings' replies of 15 { 163 } and 21 July, both below). The manuscript, which Jenings sent off to London in mid-September
(from Jenings, 14 Sept., below), contains emendations made by Jenings as he prepared it for publication and
which appear in the Translation as published at London in 1781. These changes, which were editorial rather than substantive,
do not appear in the text printed in this volume. Moreover, a comparison of Pensées with the manuscript indicates that the copy sent to Addenet was probably identical,
with one possible exception indicated in the notes, to that sent to Jenings.

The only significant difference between the Pensées and the Translation, other than that imposed by language, was Jean Luzac's twenty-page preface. John
Adams sent Luzac the manuscript in French translation on 5 Sept. and asked for his
opinion (to Luzac, 5 Sept., below). Luzac replied that the work had great merit, but suggested that he act as
editor and introduce the text with a preface designed to allay Dutch fears of an American
threat to their commercial interests that might be aroused by the pamphlet's focus
on the economic potential of the United States (see Luzac's letter of 14 Sept. and JA's reply of the 15th, both below). Pensées was published at Amsterdam in November 1780.

Historians have virtually ignored John Adams' Translation of Thomas Pownall's Memorial and, indeed, have paid little attention to the Memorial itself. This has been due partly to a lack of information regarding both Adams' letter
to the president of Congress and its later printed versions as well as to a thorough
misunderstanding over the degree to which Adams' pamphlet differed from the Memorial. The letter has been available only in the Papers of the Continental Congress or
in the Adams Papers, and few libraries hold the original pamphlets. Francis Wharton
did not include the letter of 19 April in the Revolutionary Diplomatic Correspondence of the United States, and Charles Francis Adams printed neither the letter nor the Translation in the Works of John Adams. Moreover, after their publication in 1780 and 1781 respectively, Pensées and the Translation were not republished in Europe and there were no American editions.

John Adams, himself, did not inform Congress that the substance of his letter of 19 April had been published; nor is there any indication that he informed anyone of his effort
to have Jenings publish the Translation in London or of the publication itself. Indeed, Adams' authorship of the Translation remains unrecognized, it being generally attributed to Edmund Jenings or even, in
a contemporary review of the pamphlet in London's Monthly Review (64 [1781]:150), to Benjamin Franklin.

John Adams freely acknowledged his authorship of Pensées and widely distributed copies of it in the Netherlands. But over time, Adams' authorship
of Pensées was forgotten (see DNB, 16:267). The lack of attention has been all the more unfortunate because there is
no better source for John Adams' views on the rise of the United States as an economic
and political power, the future conduct of American foreign policy, or his thoughts
regarding an Anglo-American peace than this work.

Some explanation of the editorial treatment of the two documents pre• { 164 } sented below seems in order. The 19 April letter to the president of Congress (No. I, below) is more extensively annotated
than John Adams' Translation of Thomas Pownall's Memorial (No. II, below). The notes to the letter deal with Adams' copying from the Memorial and seek to shed light on his decisions to include, exclude, or alter particular
sections. They also consider Pownall's sources, translate Latin and French passages,
and indicate major blocks of material in the letter that Adams deleted when he copied
out his Translation of the Memorial. Because it is virtually identical to the published Translation, the annotation of the manuscript has been limited to matters unique to that document.

Docno: ADMS-06-09-02-0115-0002

Author: Adams, John

Date: 1780-04-19

I. To the President of Congress, No. 49

[dateline] Paris April 19. 1780

[salute] Sir

A Pamphlet has been published, in England, under the Title of “a memorial to the Sovereigns
of Europe, on the present State of Affairs, between the old and new World.” It is
Said to have been written by Governor Pownal, and, after an Acquaintance with his
style, for more than twenty Years, I find So many quaint Words, and unintelligible
Expressions, intermixed with so much Knowledge of America, and So many good Thoughts,
which are all Characteristic, that I have no doubt, it is his. I will endeavor to
give Congress an Account of it.

He begins with observing, very justly, that at the End of the last War, a new system
was formed, both political and commercial, which is now, compleatly formed, that the
Spirit of Commerce has become a leading Power, that at that Time the Center of this
system was G. Britain, whose Government, might if it had been wise have preserved,
the Advantage of being the Center, both of the Commerce and Politicks of the World:
but being unwise they disturbed the Course of things, and have not only lost forever
that Dominion which they had and might have held, but the external parts of the Empire
are one after another falling off, and it will be once more reduced to its Insular
Existence.

On the other hand, this new System of Power, moving round its own proper Center, which
is the new World has dissolved, all the forces sent against it by the English, and
has formed natural Connections with France and Spain, and other Countries. Founded
in nature it is growing, by accellerated motions, into a great and powerful Empire.
It has taken its equal station, among the nations of the Earth. Video Solem orientem
in Occidente.1 N. America is a new primary Planet, which taking its Course in its own orbit, must
have an Effect upon the orbit of every other, and shift the common Center

of Gravity of the whole system of the European World. She is de facto, an independant
Power, and must be so, de Jure. The Politicians of Europe may reason or negotiate:
the Powers of Europe may fight about it: but such Negotiations and Wars will have
no Consequence on the right or the fact. It would be just as wise to fight or negotiate
for the dominion of the moon, which has been long common to them all, and all may
profit of her reflected light. The Independance of America is as fixed as fate: She
is mistress of her own fortune, knows that she is so, and will manage that Power which
she feels herself possessd of, to establish her own System and change that of Europe.2 Thus far I think Gov. Pownal Speaks like an oracle—he proceeds.

If the Powers of Europe, will see the state of Things, and act accordingly, the lives
of thousands may be spared, the Happiness of millions secured, and the peace of the
World preservd. If not, they will be plunged into a sea of Blood. The War, which is
almost gorged between Britain and America, will extend itself to all the maritime
Powers, and most probably afterwards to all the Inland Powers, and like the 30 years
war, of the 16 and 17th Centuries, will not end, but by a general Resettlement of
Interests, according to the Spirit of the new system which has taken Place. Why may
not all this be done by a Congress of all Nations, before, as well as after the War?

Let me observe here to Congress, as I go along, that G. Pownal in this Paragraph,
seems to be in that profound state of Ignorance, which all his Nation is manifestly
in, of what is passing in the rest of the World. He seems to think that the maritime
Powers will be divided upon the American Question, and go to War about it, whereas
it is very certain that all the other maritime Powers, are unanimous about, in favour
of one side, against England, and I cant think that he supposes England can maintain
the 30 years War, against all the maritime Powers—G. Pownal proceeds.

The final settlement of Power, at a Peace, is never in proportion to the success of
Arms. It depends upon the Interposition of Parties, who have not meddled in the War,
but who come to the treaty for Peace, brought forward by Intrigue, with the Aid of
Jealousy, and counteract, by negotiation the envied Effects of Arms.

The Britons have forced, the present system, into Establishment before its natural
Season. They might have Secured the Attachment of their Plantations for years to come,
as Spain by her caution will do: but it was a principal part of the plan, of the confidential
Counsellors, in a general Reformation of the Kings Government, to reform the Constitutions
of America. They were informed it would lead to { 167 } War, but they thought it would be a good measure to force the Americans to arms. Conquest,
of which they were sure, would give them the Right of giving what Constitutions they
thought fit, such as that to Quebec—little foreseeing what a War, it would prove,3 and still less suspecting, that France and Spain, and all the rest of the World,
would interpose.

None of the Powers of Europe, and few of the most knowing Politicians, have considered,
what Effect this Revolution will have on the general system of Europe. Here I believe
Govr. Pownal is mistaken. Every Power in Europe, and every Politician in Europe, except
those in G. Britain have digested this subject very well. The Govr. goes on. One thing
is certain, that on whatever ground the War between Britain and Bourbon began, in
whatever course it may take,4 however long they may continue it, to their mutual destruction, the Americans will
never belong to either foedere inequale.5 Here I hope and trust in God Gover. Pownals Judgement is infallible. He goes on.
The Powers of Europe, who will become Parties, before these affairs come to the Issue,
will concur in no other settlement, than that these states are an independant sovereign
Power, holding a free Commerce equally with all.

In order [to] shew, how these matters may, and finally will be settled, he proposes to lay before
the Sovereigns, a View of the European and American Worlds; and point out what will
be the natural Effects of the Seperation of them, and of the Independance of America,
upon the commercial and political state of Europe, and finally to shew how the present
Crisis, may by Wisdom and Benevolence, [be] wrought into the greatest Blessing of Peace, Liberty and Happiness, which the World
hath yet seen.

He professes that he can look to the one and the other of these Worlds, with the same
Philosophic Indifference, with which an Astronomer compares the Magnitude and Distances
of Planets, free from all Habits, and Prejudices, that possess the Europeans.

He then proceeds to compare, the new and old World, in point of Magnitude, Spirit,
and Power. He says6 that in measuring, the Magnitude of states too much is ascribed commonly, Extent
of Territory, and fruitfulness of Soil.

That Extent of Dominion, which is most capable, of a Systematical Connection and Communication,
has the most natural Greatness.

The three other Parts of the World, are naturally seperated from each other, and altho
once under the dominion of the Romans, as this was an unnatural Exertion, beyond the
Resources of human { 168 } nature it soon dissolved, and they seperated. Europe Asia and Africa, are not only
seperated by their local Positions, but are inhabited by distinct Species of human
Beings. North and south America, are in like manner naturally divided. North America,
is possessed by Englishmen, and this natural Circumstance forms this division of America,
into one great Society, the Basis of a great dominion. There is no where in Europe,
So great and combined an Interest, communicating through so large a territory, as
that in north America. The northern and southern Parts of Europe, are possessed by
different nations, actuated by different Sovereignties and systems. Their Intercourse
is interrupted, they are at perpetual Variance, Intercourse is difficult over Land,
and by Sea. They are cutt off by intervening nations. On the Contrary, when N. America
is examined, you find every thing united in it, which forms Greatness. The nature
of the Coast and the Winds, renders Communication by navigation perpetual. The Rivers,
open an inland navigation, which carries on a Circulation through the whole. The Country
thus united, and one part of it, communicating with another, by its Extent of Territory
and Variety of Climates, produces, all that nature requires, that Luxury loves, or
that Power can employ. All these Things, which the Nations of Europe under every difficulty
that a defect of natural Communication, under every obstruction that a perverse artificial
System throws in their Way, barter for, are in N. America possessed, with an uninterrupted
natural Communication and an unobstructed navigation, and an universal freedom of
Commerce by one nation. The naval stores, Timber, Hemp, Fisheries, Salt Provisions
of the north. The Tobacco, Rice, Cotton, silk, indigo, fruits and perhaps Wines, Resin
and Tar of the South, form a reciprocation of Wants and supplies. The Corn, flour,
Manufactures &c. of the middle states, fill up the Communion and compleat its system.
They unite those Parts which were before connected, and organize the several parts
into one whole.7

The Islands, are no doubt, naturally Parts of this North American Communion. The European
Powers, may by Effects of Force, if they can agree, preserve the Property and Dominion
of those Islands, for some years, perhaps an Age. But if they quarrell, about them,
the whole of the Spanish, Dutch, Danish, French and British Islands, bound in Union,
with North America, must become Parts of her system.8

Altho no Symptoms of Revolution at present appear in South America, yet it may be
proper to inquire into those internal Circum• { 169 } stances of its natural and political system, by which it works to Independancy.

S. America is larger than North, and has more Variety of Climates, and further advanced
to a natural Independance of Europe, and is growing into the largest Amplitude of
Dominion that this Earth has ever yet Seen. Agriculture, has already produced, here
not only an Abundance for home Consumption, but a surplus for Exportation. The Articles
of Export, are Wheat, flour, barley, Wine, hemp, tallow, lard, Sugar, Cocoa, fruits,
Sweetmeats, pickles, naptha, oil, cotton &c. This Progress of Agriculture has produced
Manufactures and Trade. Cordage, Sail cloth of Cotton, Woolen and linnen cloth, hats,
Leather, fiance, Instruments of husbandry, tools of Mechanicks &c. As the Population
and Culture of Chili, shall increase, the produce of these higher Latitudes and cooler
Climates, will enter into the great system, and will compleat the western Side of
S. America, possessed by one nation into an object of as much greater magnitude of
Wealth and Power, than the English nation possesses in N. America, as it is greater
in the Variety and extent of its internal Communication, besides which it will have
an uninterrupted Intercourse of East Indian Commerce. N. America has not as yet gone
into an active State of manufactures, nor will it for many Years, yet N. America,
is more independant in the Spirit of its People, and in Policy. It has only first
Seperated from the old World. S. A. is not yet ripe for falling off, nor is it likely
to be forced to a premature Revolt, as N. A. has been. As Long as the Ct. of S[pain] proceeds with the Temper, Address, and Wisdom, which it observes at present, an indolent,
luxurious, and Superstitious People, not much accustomed to think of Politicks (tho
much more than is generally suspected) will continue in subjection to Government,
and commercial Restrictions. But the Natives increasing, beyond any proportion to
the N[umber] of old Spaniards; having the executive Power, of all the inferiour Magistracies in
their own hands, by their own Election of the magistrates, they have the Power of
internal Government in their own hands, and the Government of the sovereign, by his
Viceroys, Audiences, Clergy, Army &c., is a meer tenure at good Will. A great Country
like this, so advanced in Agriculture, Manufactures, Arts and Commerce, is too large
for any Government in Europe to manage by Authority, 4 or 5 thousand miles off. Bacon
says, “there are two manners of Securing large territories: the one by the natural
arms of every Province; and the other by the protecting arms of the principal State,
in which later case commonly the provincials are disarmed. There are two dangers { 170 } incident to every State, foreign Invasion and inward Rebellion. These two Remedies
of state, fall into these two dangers in case of remote provinces, for if such a state
rest upon the natural Arms of the Province, it is sure to be subject to Rebellion,
or Revolt: if upon protecting Arms it is sure to be weak against Invasion.”9 Spain as well as England found themselves under the necessity of repealing a Revenue
Law which they had made, because they felt that they could not carry it into Execution,
by Authority. The disputes between Spain and Portugal, about the Boundaries of the
Brazils and the Spanish Provinces, arose from their not being able jointly, to carry
into Effect a Pacification. S. America is growing too much for Spain to manage. It
has Power to be independent and will be so in fact, when any Occasion shall arise.
It will not be after the Manner of N. America, which has become a democratick or Aristocratic
Republic. S. A. will be conducted by some injured and enterprizing Genius to Monarchy.10

He proceeds to consider, what he calls, from Ld. Bacon, the Amplitude and Growth of
State11 in North America, and Says that Civilization, next to Union of System and Communication
of Parts, constitute it. He compares the Civilization of America with that of Europe,
and if I understand him, for he is almost unintelligible, his Conclusion, is true,
and just (whatever, Smaller men than he may think of it) that the Civilization of
North America is, Superior to that of Europe. When I say that this Conclusion is just
I dont mean, that Architecture, Painting, Statuary, Poetry, in one Word the fine Arts,
are so well understood, nor that the Mechanick Arts are so well understood and practised
by any Individuals in America as they are by some in Europe, nor do I mean that the
sciences those of Government and Policy particularly are so learnedly understood by
any Individuals in America, as they are by some in Europe: by I mean and I say this,
that Arts, sciences, Agriculture, Manufactures, Government, Policy, Commerce are better
understood, by the collective Body of the People in America, than they are by that
of Europe. And this is the only Way of stating the Comparison of Civilization, and
in this Respect America is infinitely further removed from Barbarity than Europe.12

Governor Pownal proceeds. When the Spirit of Civilization began first in Europe, after
the Barbarous Ages of the northern Invaders, the Clergy, were the blind leaders to
light, and the feudal Lords, the Patrons of Liberty—what Knowledge! what Liberty!—the
Instruction of the first, was more pernicious than Ignorance: the Patronage of { 171 } the last was the Benevolence of a Grazier, who fattens his Cattle, to profit of their
Hides, and Bodies. The People held their Knowledge, as they did their Lands by a servile
Tenure, which did not permit them to use it as their own. Such was the Source of Civilization in Europe!13

The first movement of Civilization, is the application of Labour to the Culture of
the Earth, in order to raise that supply of Food which is necessary for Men in society.
The Application of Labour to Architecture, Cloathing, Tools and Instruments is concommitant
with this. Marketts, in which a Reciprocation of Wants and surplusses, is accomplished,
succeeds. Hence arise, by a further Improvement Artificers and Manufacturers. And
in succession a surplus is created beyond what is wanted by the Individuals, or the
Community, which produces Commerce, by exchanging this surplus for articles of Conveniency,
or Enjoyment, which the Country does not produce.

By the Violence of the military Spirit, under which Europe was a second time Peopled,
the Inhabitants were divided into two Classes, Warriors and slaves. Agriculture was
conducted by the latter, Wretches annexed to, not owners of the Soil, degraded Animals!
Cattle, Property, not Proprietors! no Interest in their own Reasons, Labour, Time.
They had neither Knowledge, nor Motive to make one Effort of Improvement.14 Improvement in Agriculture, was therefore, many hundred years at a Stand. Although
in some Countries of Europe it may seem at present progressive, it is so slow that
for Ages it can have no great Effect, except perhaps in England, yet even here the
farmer, is absurdly and cruelly oppressed.

Manufactures, or the Labour of Men in Wool, Iron, Stone, or Leather, were held as
the servile offices of Society, and fit only for slaves. These Artificers, were mere
Machines of the most arrogant and ignorant Master. They would never make Experiments.
So that Mechanicks and Arts, went on for Ages without Improvement.

Upon the dissolution of the Hanseatic League, the Sovereigns who had seen the Power,
which arose from Manufactures and Trade, began to encourage their subjects and invite
Strangers, to establish them. Civilization took a momentary start. But the Policy
of the Sovereigns, held the Manufacturers, in wretched Condition, by many obstructing
Regulations. The Same Policy, affecting to encourage Manufactures, gave them a false
help, by setting assises in the produce of Land, which oppressed Agriculture. This
Same system of Policy, confined Ingenuity, by making imposing Regulations and taxes
on every Motion of Manufactures, on their coming from the Hand { 172 } of the Workman: on the Carriage: on the sale: on the Return whether in goods or Money.
This Policy, was directed to draw into the Treasury of the state, all the Profit,
beyond the Labourers subsistance. Commercial Legislation, was directed wholly, to
make the subject sell but not buy: export Articles but import Money, of which the
state must have the greatest share. Hence exclusive Property of certain Materials
of Manufacture, which they called Staple Commodities—hence Monopolies—exclusive Priviledges
of trade, to Persons, Articles and Places: exclusive Fisheries:—hence the notions
of the ballance of Trade:—and hence the whole Train of Retaliations, restraints on
Exportation, Prohibitions of Importation, alien duties, imposts—having thus rendered
Communication among themselves almost impracticable, they were forced to look out
for foreign settlements—hence Colonies, which might be worked like out farms for the
Exclusive benefit of the metropolis, hence that wildest of wild Visions of Avarice
and Ambition, the attempt to render the Ocean an Object of Property, a Claim of Possession
in it, and Dominion over it. Thus Civilization was obstructed, improvement hindered,
and the Light of Genius extinguished.15 Events may arise which may induce, Governors in Europe, to revise and reform, the
hard Conditions of its Imprisonment, and give it Liberty.

In the new World, all the Inhabitants are free, and allow universal Naturalization
to all that wish to be So, and a perfect Liberty of using any mode of Life they choose,
or any Means of getting a Livelihood, that their Talents lead them to. Their Souls
are their own: Their Reason is their own. They are their own masters: Their Labour
is employed on their own Property, and what they produce is their own. Where every
Man has the free, and full Exertion of his Powers, and may acquire any Share of Profit
or Power, that his Spirit can work him up to; there an unabated Application, and a
perpetual Struggle of Spirit sharpens the Wit, and trains the Mind. The Acquisition
of Knowledge in Business, necessary to this Mode of Life, gives the Mind, a Turn of
Investigation, which forms a Character peculiar to these People. This is called Inquisitiveness,
which goes often to Ridicule, but is in Matters of Business and Commerce an usefull
Talent. They are animated with the Spirit of the New Philosophy. Their Life is a Course
of Experiments, and standing on as high ground of Improvement, as the most enlightened
Parts of Europe have advanced, like Eaglets they commence the first Efforts of their
Pinnions from a towering Advantage.

In Europe the poor Man's Wisdom is despised. The poor Mans { 173 } Wisdom, is not learning, but knowledge of his own picking up, from facts and nature,
by simple Experience. In America, the Wisdom and not the Man is attended to: America
is the Poor Mans Country. The Planters here reason not from what they hear but from
what they see and feel. They follow what mode they like. They feel that they can venture
to make Experiments, and the Advantages of their discoveries are their own. They therefore
try, what the soil claims, what the Climate permits, and what both will produce to
the greatest Advantage, in this way, they have brought into Cultivation, an Abundance,
that no nation of the old World ever did, or could. They raise not only Plenty, and
Luxury for their internal supply, but the Islands in the West Indies have been supplied
from their Superabundance, and Europe, in many Articles has profited of it. It has
had its fish from their seas: its wheat and flour from one part: its rice from another:
its Tobacco and Indigo from another: its timber and naval stores from another: olives,
oranges, Wines, are introducing by Experiments.

This spirit of Civilization, first attaches itself to Mother Earth, and the Inhabitants
become Land workers. You see them labouring at the Plow, and the Spade, as if they
had not an Idea, above the Earth; yet their Minds are all the while, enlarging all
their powers, and their Spirit rises as their Improvements advance. Many a real philosopher,
politician and Warrior, emerges out of this Wilderness, as the seed rises out of Ground.16

They have also made many improvements in Handicrafts, Tools, and Machines. Want of
Tools, and the Unfitness of such as they had, have put these Settlers to their shifts
and these shifts are Experiments. Particular Uses calling for some Alteration have
opened many a new Invention. More new Tools and Machines, and more new forms of old
ones, have been issued in the new than were ever invented in the old in the same space
of time.

The new World hath not turned its labour, into Arts and manufactures, because, their
labour employed in its own natural Way can produce those things, which purchase Articles
of Arts and manufactures, cheaper, than they could make them, but tho it dont manufacture
for Sale, the settlers find Fragments of Time, which they cannot otherwise employ,
in which they make most of the Articles of personal Ware and household Use, for home
Consumption. When the Field shall be filled with Husbandmen, and the Classes of Handicrafts
fully stocked, as there are no Laws which impose Conditions, on which a Man is to
become intituled to exercise this or that trade, or by which he is excluded from exercising
the one or the other, in this or that { 174 } place: none that prescribe the manner in which, or the Prices at which he is to work,
or that confine him even to the trade he was bred to: the moment that Civilization
carried on in its natural Course is ripe for it: the Branch of Manufactures will take
Root, and grow with an astonishing Rapidity.

Altho, the Americans do not endeavour to force the Establishment of Manufactures;
yet, following the natural progress of Improvement, they every Year produce a Surplus
of Profit. With these surpluses and not with Manufactures they carry on their Commerce.
Their fish, wheat, flour, rice, tobacco, indigo, live stock, barrel pork and beef
(some of these being peculiar to the Country and staple Commodities) form their Exports.
This has given them a direct Trade to Europe, and a circuitous Trade to Affrica and
the West Indies.

The same Ingenuity in mechanicks, which accompanies their Agriculture, enters into
their Commerce, and is exerted in Ship building: it is carried on, not only for their
own freight, and that of the West Indies, but for sale, and supply a great part of
the shipping of Britain; and if it continues to advance, will supply a great Part
of the trade of Europe with ships, at cheaper Rates, then they can any where, or by
any means, supply themselves. Thus their Commerce, altho under various Restrictions,
while they were subordinate Provinces, by its advancing Progress in ship building,
hath struck deep roots, and is now shot forth into an Active Trade, Amplitude of state
and great Power.

An Objection. It will be said that the Ballance of Trade, has been at all times, against
America, so as to draw all the Gold and silver from it, and for this Reason it cannot
Advance in Commerce and oppulence. Answer. America, even while in depressed and restrained
Provinces, has advanced its Cultivation to great oppulence, and constantly extending
the Channells of its trade and increasing its shipping. Tis a fallacious Maxim to
judge of the general Ballance of Profit in commerce by the Motions of one Article
of Commerce, the prescious metals.

These metals, will always go to that Country, that pays the most for them. That Country,
which on any sudden Emergency wants Money, and knows not how to circulate any other
than silver and gold, must pay the most for them. The Influx of them therefore into
a Country, instead of being a Consequence, of the ballance of trade being in its favor,
or the Efflux being a Mark, of the Ballance being against it, may be proof of the
contrary. The ballance of trade, reckoned by the import or Export of Gold and silver,
may in many { 175 } cases, be said to be against England, and in favour of those Countries to which its
money goes. If this Import or Export was the Effect of a final settled account, instead
of being, only the transfer of this Article to or from an Account currant, as it commonly
is, yet it would not be a mark of the Ballance of Trade. England, from the nature
of its Government and the Extent of its Commerce, has established a Credit, on which,
on any Emergency, it can give Circulation to paper money, almost to any amount. If
it could not, it must, at any rate, purchase gold and silver, and their would be a
great Influx of the prescious metals. Will any one say, that this is a Symptom of
the ballance of trade being in its favour? but on the contrary, having credit, from
a progressive ballance of profit, it can, even in such an Emergency, spare its Gold
and silver, and even make a Profit of it, as an Article of Commerce exported. Here
We see, the ballance of profit creating a Credit, which circulates as money, even
while its gold and silver are exported. If any Event like the late Recoinage of the
Gold in England, which called in the old Coin at a better Price than that at which
it was circulating abroad, should raise the Price of this Article in England, it will,
for the same reason, as it went out, be again imported into England, not as a ballance
of Accounts, but as an Article of trade, of which the best profit could at that moment
be made. The fact was, that at that Period, quantities of English gold coin, to a
great amount, were actually imported into England in bulk; and yet this was no mark
of any sudden change of a ballance of trade in favour of that Country.17

The ballance of trade, reckoned by this false rule, has been always said to be against
N. America: but the fact is, that their Government profiting of a Credit arising from
the progressive Improvements, and advancing Commerce of it <(which all the World sees as it is)>, hath by a refined policy, established a Circulation of Paper Money, to an Amount
that is astonishing; that from the immense quantity it should depreciate, is nothing
to this Argument; for it has had its Effect. The Americans therefore can spare their
gold and silver, as well as England, and my Information says, there is now locked
up in America more than three Millions, English Money, in gold and silver, which when
their Paper is annihilated will come forth. The Efflux, therefore of gold and silver,
is no proof of a ballance against them. On the contrary, being able to go on without
gold and silver, but wanting other Articles, without which they could not proceed
in their Improvements in Agriculture, Commerce, or War, the gold and silver is in
part hoarded, and in part exported for these Articles. In fact, this { 176 } objection, which is always given as an instance of Weakness in America, under which
she must Sink, turns out, in the true state of it, an Instance of the most extensive
Amplitude and Growth of state. It would be well for England, if while she tryumphs
over this Mote in her Sisters Eye, would attend to the Beam in her own, and prepare
for the Consequences of her own paper Money.

From this Comparison of the Spirit of Civilization, applied to Agriculture, Mechanicks,
and Commerce, extended through a large territory, having a free Communication, thro
the whole, Governor Pownal asserts, that N. America has advanced, and is every day
advancing, to a Growth of State, with a constant, and accellerating Motion of which
there has never been any Example in Europe.

He proceeds to compare the two Countries, in the Progress of Population. In North
America Children are a Blessing they are Riches and strength to the Parents. In Europe,
Children are a Burden. The Causes of which have been with decided demonstration explained
in the “Observations concerning the Increase of Mankind, the Peopling of Countries
&c.”18 which he confirms by Examples of the actual increase,—The Mass. Bay, had of inhabitants
in the year 1722, 94,000—in 1742, 164,000, in 1751—when there was a great depopulation
both by War and the Small Pox 164,484—in 1761, 216,000—in 1765, 255,500—in 1771, 292,000,
in 1773, 300,000.19

In Connecticut, in 1756, 129,994—in 1774, 257,356. These numbers are not increased
by strangers, but decreased by Wars and Emigrations to the Westward, and to other
states. Yet they have nearly doubled in Eighteen Years.

As there never was a Militia in Pensilvania, which authentic List of the Population,20 it has been variously estimated on Speculation. There was a continual Importation
for many Years of irish and foreign Emigrants, yet many of these settled in other
Provinces: but the progress of population, in the ordinary course, advanced in a ratio
between that of Virginia, and that of Mass. Bay. The City of Philadelphia, advanced
more rapidly. It had in 1749—2076 houses in 1753—2300 in 1760, 2969 in 1769, 4474,
from 1749 to 1753 from 16, to 18,000 Inhabitants—from 1760 to 1769 from 31,318 to
35,000.

There were in 1754 various Calculations and Estimates made of the No. on the Continent.
The sanguine, made the No. one million and { 177 } an half. Those who admitted less speculation into the Calculation, but adhered closer
to Facts and Lists as they were made out, Stated them at one million two hundred and
fifty thousand. The Estimate said to be taken in Congress in 1774 makes them 3,026,678—but
there must have been great Scope of Speculation in that Estimate. Another, after two
or three Years of War, is 2,810,000. Govr. P. thinks that 2,141,307 would turn out
nearest to the real amount in 1774. But what an amazing Progress, which in 18 years
has added a million to a million two hundred and fifty thousand, altho a War was maintained
in that Country for seven years of the term. In this view one sees a Community, unfolding
itself, beyond any Example in Europe.

But the Model of these Communities, which has always taken place, from the Beginning,
has enrolled every subject, as a soldier, and trained a greater Part, or 535,326 of
these People to Arms, which Number the Community has, not seperate from the civil,
and formed into a distinct body of regular Soldiers, but remaining united in the internal
Power of the society, a national Piquet guard, always prepared for defence. This will
be thought ridiculous by the regular Generals of Europe: but experience hath evinced,
that for the very Reason that they are not a Seperate body, but members of the Community,
they are a real and effectual national defence. He concludes with Lord Bacon, that21 the true Greatness of a State consisteth essentially in Population <and breed of Men>, and where there is Valour in individuals, and a military disposition in the frame
of the Community: where all, and not particular conditions and degrees only, make
profession of Arms, and bear them in their countrys defence.22

This Country now is an Independant State, that hath taken its equal Station amidst
the Nations of the Earth.23 It is an Empire, the Spirit of whose Government extends from the Center to the extream Parts. Universal participation of Council, creates Reciprocation of universal Obedience.
The Seat of Government will be well informed of the State and Condition of the remote
and extream parts which by participation in the Legislature, will be informed and
satisfied in the reasons and necessity of the measures of Government. These will consider
themselves as acting in every grant that is made, and in every tax imposed. This Consideration
will give Efficacy to Government, that Consensus Obedientium, on which the permanent
Power of Empire is founded. This is the Spirit of the New Empire in America. It is
liable to many Disorders, but young and Strong, like the Infant Hercules it will strangle
these serpents, in the Cradle. Its Strength { 178 } will grow with Years. It will establish its Constitution, and perfect Growth to Maturity.
To this Greatness of Empire it will certainly arise. That it is removed 3000 miles
from its Enemy: that it lies on another side of the Globe where it has no Enemy: that
it is Earth born and like a Giant ready to run its Course, are not the only Grounds,
on which a Speculatist may pronounce this. The fostering Care with which the Rival Powers of Europe will nurse it, ensures its
Establishment, beyond all doubt or danger.

When a State is founded on Such Amplitude of Territory: whose Intercourse is so easy:
whose Civilization, is so advanced: where all is Enterprize and Experiment: where
Agriculture has made so many discoveries, of new and peculiar Articles of Cultivation:
where the ordinary Produce of bread Corn has been carried to a degree, that has made
it a Staple Export, for the supply of the old World: whose Fisheries are mines producing
more Solid Riches than all the silver of Potosi: Where Experiment hath invented So
many new and ingenious Improvements, in Mechanicks: where the Arts, Sciences, Legislation
and Politicks, are Soaring with a Strong and extended Pinion: where Population has
multiplied like the Seeds of the Harvest: Where the Power of these Numbers, taking
a military Form, shall lift up itself as a young Lion;24 where Trade of extensive orbit, circulating in its own shipping, has wrought up these
Efforts of the Community to an active Commerce: where all these Powers have united
and taken the form of Empire: I may suppose I cannot err, or give offence to the greatest
Power in Europe, when Upon a Comparison of the state of Mankind, and of the Powers
of Europe, with that of America I venture to suggest to their Contemplation, that
America is growing too large for any Government in Europe to manage as subordinate.
That the Government, of North America, is too firmly fixed in the Hands of its own
Community, to be either directed by other Hands, or taken out of those in which it
is: and that the Power in Men and Arms, is too much to be forced, at the distance
of 3000 Miles. Were I to ask an Astronomer, whether, if a satellite should grow, untill
it could ballance with its Planet, whether that globe so increased, could be held
any longer by any of the Powers of Nature, in the orbit of a satellite, and whether
any external Force could hold it there, he will answer me, directly, No. If I ask
a father, whether, after his son is grown up, to full strength of Body Mind and Reason,
he can be held in Pupillage, and will suffer himself to be treated and corrected as
a Child, he must answer No. Yet if I ask, an European Politician, who learns by Hearsay,
and thinks by Habit, whether N. America will { 179 } remain dependent he answers, Yes. He will have a thousand reasons, why it must be
so, altho fact rises in his face to the very contrary. Politicians, instead of being
employed to find out reasons to explain facts, are often employed with a multitude
about them, to invent and make facts, according to predetermined Reasonings. Truth,
however, will prevail. This is not said to prove, but to explain the Fact, so that
the Consequences may be seen. The present Combination of Events whether attended to
or not, whether wrought by Wisdom into the system of Europe or not, will force its
way there, by the Vigour of natural Causes. Europe, in the Course of its Commerce,
and even in the internal order and Oeconomy of its Communities, will be affected by
it. The Statesman cannot prevent its Existence, nor resist its Operation. He may embroil
his own Affairs; but it will become his best Wisdom, and his Duty to his Sovereign
and the People, that his measures coincide and cooperate with it.

The first of the Consequences is, the Effect, which this Empire, become a great naval
power, will have on the Commerce, and by Changes in that, on the political system
of the old World.

Whoever understands the Hanseatic League, and its progress, by possessing the commanding
Articles of the Commerce of the World; the command of the great Rivers; its being
the Carrier of Europe: in consequent active naval Power, that could attract, resist,
and even command the landed powers; that it was made up of Seperate and unconnected
Towns, included within the dominions, of other States; that they had no natural Communication,
and only an artificial Union: whoever considers not only the commercial but naval
and political Power, which this League established throughout Europe; will see, on
how much more solid a Basis, the Power of North America, stands: how much faster it
must grow, and to what an Ascendancy, of Interest, carrying on the greatest part of
the Commerce, and commanding the greatest Part of the Shipping of the World, this
great commercial and naval Power, must Soon arrive. If the League, without the natural
Foundation of a political Body, in Land, could grow by Commerce and navigation to
such Power: if, of Parts seperated by Nature, and only joined by Art and Force, could
become a great political Body, acting externally with an Interest and Power, that
took a lead, and even an Ascendancy in Wars and Treaties? What must N. America, removed
at the distance of half the Globe, from all the obstructions of rival powers, founded
in a landed Dominion, peculiarly adapted for Communication of Commerce, and Union
of Power, rise to in its Progress? As the Hanseatick League, { 180 } grew to Power, Denmark, Sweeden, Poland, and France, Sought its Alliance (under the
common Veil of Pride) by offers of becoming its Protectors. England also, growing
fast into a commercial Power, had commercial Arrangements by Treaty with it. Just
So now, will the Sovereigns of Europe, just so have, the Bourbon Compact, the greatest
Power in Europe, courted the Friendship of America. Standing on Such a Basis, and
growing Up, under Such Auspices, one may pronounce of America, as was said of Rome—Civitas,
incredibile est memoratu, a deptà Libertate quantum brevi creverit.25 I mark what may be, by what has been.

In the Course of this American War, all the Powers of Europe, at least the maritime
powers, will one after another, as some of the first leading Powers have already done,
apply to the States of America, for a share in their trade, and for a Settlement of
the Terms on which they may carry it, on with them. America, will then become the
arbitress of the commercial (and perhaps as the seven United Belgic Provinces were
in the Year 1647) the mediatrix of peace, and of the political business of the World.

If N: America follows the Principles on which Nature has established her; and if the
European Alliances which she has already made do not involve her in, and Seduce her
to, a Series of Conduct destructive of that System, which those Principles lead to;
She must observe, that as Nature hath seperated her from Europe, and hath established
her alone on a great Continent, far removed from the old World, and all its embroiled
Interests and wrangling Politicks, without an Enemy or a Rival or the Entanglement
of Alliances.26 1. That it is, contrary to her Interest and the nature of her Existence, that she
should have any Connections of Politicks with Europe, other than merely commercial;
and even on that ground, to observe inviolably27 the Caution of not being involved, in Either the quarrells, or the Wars of the Europeans.
2. That the real State of America is, that of being the common Source of supply to
Europe in general; and that her true Interest is therefore that of being a free Port
to all Europe at large; and that all Europe at large should be the common Market for
American Exports. The true Interest, therefore of America, is, not to form any partial
connections, with any Part to the Exclusion of the rest. If England had attended to
her true Interest, as connected with that of America, she would have known, that28 it is the Commerce, and not the Conquest of America, by which she could be benefited;
and if she would even yet, with temper listen to her true Interest, she would still
find, that that Commerce would, in a great measure { 181 } continue with the Same benefit, were the two Countries as independent of each other
as France and Spain, because in many Articles, neither of them can go to a better
Market. This is meant, as under their present Habits and Customs of Life. Alienation
may change all this.

The first great leading Principle will be, that N. America will become a free Port
to all the nations of the World, indiscriminately; and will expect, insist on, and,
demand, in fair Reciprocity, a free market in all those nations with whom she trades.
This will, if she forgets not, nor forsakes her real nature, be the Basis, of all
her commercial Treaties. If she adheres to this Principle, she must be, in the course
of time, the chief Carrier of the Commerce of the whole World: because, unless the
several powers of Europe, become to each other, likewise, free Ports and free marketts,
America alone will come to and act there, with an ascendant Interest that must command
every Advantage to be derived from them.29

The Commerce of N. America, being no longer the Property of one Country only: her
Articles of supply will come freely, and be found now in all the markets of Europe:
not only moderated by, but moderating the Prices of the like Articles of Europe. The
Furs and Peltry, will meet those of the north East part of Europe; and neither the
one nor the other can any longer be estimated by the Advantages to be taken of an
exclusive Vent. Advantages of this Kind, on Iron, and naval Stores, have frequently
been aimed at by Sweeden: and the monopoly in them was more than once used as an Instrument
of Hostility against England, which occasioned the bounties on these Articles, the
Growth of America, which gave rise to the Export of them from America: when they come
freely to the European marketts, cooperating with the Effect which those of Russia
have, will break that monopoly, for Russia, by the Conquest of Livonia,30 and the Advancement of her Civilization, has become a source of supply, in these
Articles, to a great Extent. All Europe by the Intervention of this American Commerce,
will find the good Effects of a fair Competition, both in Abundance of Supply, and
in moderation of Price. Even England who hath lost the monopoly, will be no great
loser on this score: she will find this natural Competition as advantageous to her,
as the monopoly, which, in bounties, and other costs of protection she paid so dear
for. Ship building and navigation, haveing made such progress in America, that they
are able to build and navigate cheaper than any country in Europe, even than Holland
with all her Aeconomy. There will arise a Competition in this branch of com• { 182 } merce. In this branch the dutch will find a powerful Rivalry, from that maritime people
the Americans.31 They will also find, in the Marketts of Europe, a Competition in the branch of the
Fisheries. The Rice and Corn, which the Americans have been able to export, to an
Amount that Supplied, in the European market, the defect arising from England's withholding
her Exports, will keep down depressed the Agriculture of Portugal and Spain, and in
some measure of France, if the policy of those Countries does not change the Regulations,
and order of their internal Oeconomy. The peculiar Articles, to be had as yet from
America only, which Europe so much seeks after, will give the Americans the command
of the market in those Articles, and enable them, by annexing assortments of other
Articles, to produce these also, with Advantage in these marketts. The refuse fish,
flour, Maize, meat, live stock, lumber &c., all carried in American shipping to the
W. India Islands: the African slaves, carried by a circuitous trade, in American Shipping
also to the W. India marketts: taking from thence the molasses: aiding those Islands
with American shipping, in the Carriage of their produce, must ever command and have
the Ascendency in the Commerce of that Part of the World, if this Ascendency even
Stops here. The cheap manner, in which the Americans produce their Articles of Supply:
the low rates at which they carry them to Europe, Selling also their shipping there:
the small Profits at which their merchants are content to trade, must lower the price
of the like Articles in Europe: oblige the European merchants to be content with less
profit: occasion some Reform in the Oeconomy of Europe in raising and police in bringing
to market, the native Articles of supply. But further the Americans, by their Principle
of being a free port in America, and having a free market in Europe; by their Policy
of holding themselves, as they are remote from all the wrangling Politicks, So neutral
in all the Wars of Europe: by their Spirit of Enterprise in all the quarters of the
globe, will oblige the Nations of Europe to call forth within themselves such a Spirit,
as must entirely change its commercial system also.

But will a people whose Empire Stands Singly predominant on a great Continent, who
before they lived under their own Government, had pushed their Spirit of Adventure
in Search of a N. West Passage to Asia, which as their own discovery, they meant to
have claimed as their own peculiar Right, Suffer in their borders the Establishment
of such a monopoly as the European Hudsons Bay Company? Will that Spirit which has
forced an extensive commerce in the two bays of Honduras and Compeachy, and on the
Spanish main, and who { 183 } have gone to Falklands Islands in search only of Whales, be stopped at Cape Horn,
or not pass the Cape of good Hope? It will not be long after their Establishment as
an Empire, before they will be found trading in the south Sea and in China. The Dutch
will hear of them in Spice Islands, to which the Dutch can have no Claim; and which
those Enterprising People will contest, on the very ground, and by the very Arguments,
which the Dutch used to contest the Same Liberty against Portugal.32 By the Intercourse and Correspondence which there will be between Europe and America,
it will be as well known, as Europe: by attention to the Winds, Currents, the Gulph
Stream and its Lee Currents, the Passage will be better understood and become shorter:
America will seem every day to approach nearer and nearer to Europe. When the Alarm
which the Idea of going to a Strange and distant Country gives to a Manufacturer or
Peasant, or even a Country Gentleman, shall be thus worn out; a thousand attractive
motives respecting a settlement in America, will raise a Spirit of Adventure, and
become the irresistable Cause of a general Emigration to that World. Nothing but Some,
future, wise and benevolent <Spirit of> Policy in Europe, or Some Spirit of the Evil one, which may mix itself in the Policy
of America can prevent it. Many of the most usefull enterprising Spirits, and much
of the active property will go there. Exchange hath taught the statesmen of the World
long ago, that they cannot confine money, and the Governments of Europe, must fall
back to the feudal Tyranny, in which its own people are locked up, and from which
all others are excluded, or Commerce will open a Door to Emigration.33

These Relations of Things—these Legesque et foedera rerum,34 are forming what Governor Pownal concieves to be the new System. The sublime Politician,
who ranges in Regions of predetermined systems—the man of the World, narrowed by a
selfish Experience, worse than Ignorance will not believe him: and it is but slowly,
that Nations relinquish any System, which hath derived Authority from time and habit.35 Those Sovereigns of Europe, who have despised the Awkward Youth of America, and neglected
to form Connections, and interweave their interests with those of these rising states,
shall find the system of this new Empire, obstructing and superseding the old system
of Europe, and crossing all their Maxims and measures, they will call upon their Ministers
Come Curse me this people, for they are too mighty for me. The Spirit of Truth will
answer, How shall I curse whom God hath not cursed? How shall I defy whom the Lord
hath not defied? From the Top of the Rock I see them, from the Hills { 184 } I behold them. Lo! the people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the
nations.36 On the Contrary, those Sovereigns, who shall see things as they are, and form, if
not the earliest, yet the most sure and natural Connection with America, as an Independant
State, the Markett of, and a free Port to Europe: as that Being which must have a
free markett in Europe, will become the principal leading Power in Europe, in regulating
the Courses of the rest, and in settling the common Center of all.

England is the state that is in those Circumstances and in that situation. Similar
Modes of living and thinking, manners and fashions, Language and Habits, all conspire
naturally to a rejuncture by Alliance. If England, would treat America as what she
is, she might still have the Ascendancy in trade and navigation: might still have
a more solid and less invidious power than that magni nominis Umbra,37 with which she braves the whole World. She might yet have an active leading Interest
among the powers of Europe. But she will not. As though the Hand of Judgment was upon
her, England will not see the things which make for her peace. France, and other States
will follow the Example, acknowledging these states to be what they are, has formed
Alliances with them on terms of perfect Equality and Reciprocity.38 And behold the Ascendant, to which she directly arose, from that politick Humiliation.
There never was a wiser or firmer Step taken by any established power, than that which
the new states in America took, for their first footing in this Alliance: there never
was more Address, Art, or Policy shown by any State, than France has given Proof of
in the Same; when both agreed and became allied on terms, which exclude no other Power,
from enjoying the Same Benefits, by a like Treaty. Can it be supposed that other States,
conceiving that the exclusive trade of England, to America, is laid open, will not
desire, and have their share? They certainly will. Here then are the Beginnings of
changes in the European System.

There are two Courses in which, this general Intercourse of Commerce, between Europe
and N. America, may come into operation: one, by particular Treaties of commerce:
the other by all the maritime States of Europe, previous to their engaging in a War,
or upon the general Settlement of a Peace, meeting in Some Congress to regulate among
themselves, as well as with north America, the Free Port on one Hand, and the free
Markett on the other; as also general Regulations of Commerce and navigation, Such
as must Suit this free trader, now common to them all, indifferently, and without
preference. Such Regulations, must exclude all Monopoly of this Source { 185 } of Supply and Course of Trade; and So far make an essential Change in the commercial
System: such Regulations, not having Reference only to America, but reciprocal References
between all the contracting Parties, trading now under different Circumstances, and
Standing towards each other in different Predicaments, must necessarily change the
whole of that System in Europe.

The American will come to market in his own ship, and will claim the Ocean as Common;
will claim a navigation restrained by no Laws, but the Law of Nations, reformed as
the rising Crisis requires: will claim a free Market, not only for his Goods but his
ship, which will make a Part of his Commerce. America being a free Port to all Europe,
the American will bring to Europe not only his own peculiar Staple produce, but every
Species of his produce, which the market of Europe can take off: he will expect to
be free to offer to Sale in the European markett, every Species of wrought materials,
which he can make to answer in that markett: and further as his commerce subsists
by a circuitous Interchange with other Countries and Regions, whence he brings Articles,
not Singly for his own consumption, but as exchangeable Articles, with which to trade
in foreign marketts; he will claim as one of the conditions of the free markett, that
these foreign Articles, as well as his own produce shall be considered as free for
him to import in his own shipping: to such markett. Those states who refuse this at
first, Seeing others acquiesce in it, and Seeing also how they profit by having Articles
of supply and Trade brought So much cheaper to them, will be obliged, in their own
defence, and to maintain their ballance in the commercial World, to acceed to the
Same Liberty. Hence again, even if the American should not, by these means, become
the ascendant Interest in the Carrying Trade, and in shipping and Seamen, a most essential
change must arise in the European System.

The American, raises his produce, and navigates cheaper than any other can: his Staples,
are Articles which he alone can Supply: these will come to market assorted with others,
which he thus can most conveniently supply; and unless the same freedom of trade which
he enjoys, be reciprocally given and taken by the European powers, among each other,
he will come to the European market on terms, which no other can, but Europe will
be affected, benefited and improved by his manner of trading. The peculiar Activity
of the American, will raise a Spirit and activity among those who come to the same
market. That peculiar turn of Character, that Inquisitiveness, which in business animates
a Spirit of investigation to every { 186 } extent, and the minutest detail, enables them to conduct their dealings, in a manner
more advantageous, than is usually practiced by the European merchant. They acquire
a Knowledge not only of the marketts of Europe, i.e. of the Wants and supplies, how
they correspond, and of their relative values; but they never rest, till they are
possessed of a knowledge of every Article of produce and manufacture, which comes
to those marketts; untill they know the establishments, the operations and the prices
of labour, and the profits made on each, as well, or even better, than merchants of
the Country themselves. A little before the War, several of the American Merchants,
especially those of Pensilvania, sending some of their own house to England, became
their own factors, went immediately to the Manufacturers in Birmingham, Wolverhampton,
and Sheffield; to the woolen manufacturers in Yorkshire and Lancashire: to those of
Liverpool: and those in the west: and opened an immediate traffic with them at the
first hand. This same Spirit of Investigation and Activity, will actuate their dealings
in every other country of Europe. The Effect of this, instead of being disadvantageous,
to those countries, will become a general blessing, by raising a more general competition,
and diffusing a more proportional share of profit, between all ranks of the industrious.
While trade is solely in the hands of the merchant, he bears hard on the purchaser,
by his high profit, and oppresses the manufacturer, by the little share, he allows
him. The merchant grows rich and magnificent, makes a great Bustle and figure. It
can never be well, where Merchants are Princes. The more the merchant can make by
high profit, the less quantity will he carry to market. Whereas, when Commerce shall
be free, and by the mixture of this american Spirit, trade runs, with fair competition
in a broad channell the merchant must make his Way by being content with small profit,
and by doing a deal of business on those small profits. The consumer and manufacturer
will come nearer together. The one will save an unreasonable Advance and the other
obtain a more equal share of profit. More work will be done: the profits of Industry
more equally distributed, the circulation will spread thro the lesser vessels, and
Life Health and Growth promoted.

If these operations take this Course, it will be needless to point out to the shrewd
Speculations of the Merchants what their conduct must necessarily be: but it will
behove Statesmen, to be aware, that they do not Suffer the merchant to persuade them,
that the Commerce is languishing, merely because there is not the same parade of Wealth,
in such dazzling Instances. Let them look to the marketts { 187 } of supply, and see if there is not plenty. Next to the rude produce which is the Basis
of manufactures, and enquire, whether, while more and more Industry is daily called
forth, it is not employed and more adequately paid by a free and extended Vent? While
the No. and ingenuity of manufacturers increases, they do not all live more comfortably,
so as to have and maintain increasing families? Whether population does not increase.
Let them, in future guard against the exclusive temper of Trade. The political founders
of the old System, were totally ignorant of this principle of commerce. It was Wisdom
with them to render their neighbours and customers poor. By a wretched System of taxation
they effectually prevented the Stock of labour and profit from accumulating. But if
the Statesmen of the present enlightened Age, will follow, where Experience, leads
to truth and right, they will throw the Activity of Mankind into its proper course
of productive labour. When man has the liberty of exerting his Industry and Ingenuity,
as he can make them the most productive, finds a free Market, and his Share of profit,
then is the ground duly prepared for Population, opulence, and Strength. Then will
the Sovereigns of Europe find their Interest, and their Power in their Peoples Happiness.

If the Sovereigns of Europe, should find in the Example of England, that the System
of Colonies in distant regions for the Purpose of Monopolies, is at an end, and turn
their Attention, to give Exertion to their own internal powers like the police of
China, cultivate their waste lands, improve Agriculture, encourage manufactures, abolish
Corporations: as all the remnants of Barbarism, shall be removed, the powers of the
Community will create those surpluses which will become the Source, and open the channells
of commerce. If they should see in the Examples of Spain and England, the Disappointments
of attempts to establish a Monopoly of navigation, by the force of laws, instead of
creating or maintaining it, by the Spirit of an active commerce: that all the Prohibitions
by which they labour to oppress their neighbours do but depress themselves, they may
come to think, that giving Freedom and Activity to commerce, is the true System of
every commercial Country. Suppose them, checked in their Career of War, hesitating
on the Maxims of their old system: perceiving that the Oeconomical Activity in Europe,
is on the Turn to take a new Course: feeling the force of an active commerce; finding
themselves under the necessity of making Some reform, should begin to Speculate, how,
amidst a Number of Powers of Trade, Shifting their Scale, an even ballance may be
formed, and Secured. How amidst a number { 188 } of Interests, floating on the Turn of this great Tide in the Affairs of Men, an equal
level may be obtained. If on a review of their old System, they should perceive how
it is prepared for change—they may find that Commerce, which might have risen by Competition,
Industry, Frugality and ingenuity, hath long been an exclusive, Scrambling rivalship.
Instead of being an equal, Communication concentring the Enjoyments of all regions
and climates, and a Consociation of all nations in one Communion of the blessings
of Providence: when actuated as it has been by a selfish Principle, it hath been to
the Nations an occasion of Jealousies; alternate depressions of each others Interests,
and a never ceasing Source of Wars, perhaps they may also see that treaties, of Peace
have been but truces, and guarrantees so many entangling preparations for future Wars.
On the other hand, they should see with pleasure, that the manners of mankind, softening
by degrees have become more humanized; their Police more civilized: and altho many
of the old oppressive Institutions of Government, as they respect Husbandmen, Manufacturers,
Merchants, Marketts and Commerce, have not yet been formally abolished; yet that Practice,
by various Accommodations, have abrogated their most mischeivious operations. That
the Activity of Man finds every day, a freer Course: that there are a thousand Ways,
which altho pride will not open, prudence will connive at, through which the intercourse
of Marketts finds every year, a freer vent: and that the active Spirit of commerce
is like the Spirit of Life, diffusing itself through the whole Mass of Europe. They
will find there is an End of all their monopolizing Systems. They will see that any
one of the powers of Europe, who would aim to deal with the rest of Mankind with an
unequal ballance; will only find, that they have raised among their neighbours, a
Jealousy that shall conspire to wrest that false ballance out of their hands, and
to depress them down again, to a level with the rest of the World. The Cities of Italy,
the Low Countries, Portugal, Holland, England, have all, for their period, as commercial
powers, arisen above the common Level, but pressing with a Weight which was felt as
unequal by those below them; they have each in its turn found, even in the moment
of their highest Elevation a general rising all around them, and themselves sinking
to the common level. Statesmen must see, how much it is the interest of all, to liberate
each other, from the Restraints, Prohibitions and Exclusions, by which they have aimed
to depress each other. They will see,39 that the most advantageous Way, which a landed nation can take, to encourage and
multiply Artificers, Manufacturers and { 189 } Merchants of their own, is to grant the most perfect freedom, to the Artificers Manufacturers
and merchants of every other nation. That a contrary Practice, lowers the value of
their own internal Productions, by raising the prices of all things which must be
bought with them: and gives to the Artificers, Manufacturers and merchants a monopoly
against their own farmers. Seeing this they will encourage Population, and an universal
naturalization and liberty of Conscience. If nature has so formed man, and Policy,
Society, that each labouring in his line, produces a surplus of Supply, it is both
perfect Justice and Policy, that men and nations should be free, reciprocally to interchange
it. This communion of nations, is a right which may be enjoyed, in its genuine spirit
and utmost extent, except in time of War, and even then to a great degree, without
interfering in the political and civil power of the World. The Spirit of those exclusive
Laws of navigation will appear as the Spirit of piracy. The common ocean, incapable
of being defined, or of a Special occupancy, or of recieving exclusively the labour
of any Individual, Person or state, is incapable of becoming an Object of Property—never
an object of Dominion: and that, therefore, the ocean, should in policy, as it is
in fact, remain common and free. Pervium cunctis Iter.40 If it should be seen that the commercial system of Europe is changing, and in Wisdom
and policy ought to be changed: that the great Commerce of North America emancipated
from its provincial state, not only coincides with, but is a concurring cause of this
change; that the present Combination of Events form a Crisis, which Providence with
a more than ordinary Interposition hath prepared: and that Heaven itself Seems to
call upon sovereigns to cooperate with its gracious Providence, if they should be
convinced that there is nothing so absurd as Warring against each other about an object,
which as it is Seperated from Europe, will have nothing to do with its Broils, and
will not belong exclusively to any of them. If listening to this Voice, which as that
of an Angel, announcing Peace and good Will to mankind, summons them to leave off
the endless useless operations of War: to consider the present Crisis as an object
of Council and not of War and therefore to meet in Communications and Intercourse
of their reasoning Powers.41

The Maritime Powers, must, before Peace respecting America, and the mixed Interests
of Europe and America, can be even treated of, convene by their Consuls, Commissioners
or other Ministers, in order to consider the Several points on which the War broke
out—the points in Claim, and in contest, the points on which they may { 190 } safely suspend Hostilities, and those which must form the Basis of Treaty, and which
will enter into the future System, and on which Peace may not only made, but established
among the nations of the Atlantic ocean.42

Will not, Reason and Benevolence, then, in which true Policy and their right and best
Interest is included, Suggest to their Hearts; and actuate their Councils to convene
a Congress before they are engaged in further Hostilities before the devastation of
War extends Ruin and misery yet farther. Some such measure, as led the great trading
Bodies of Europe to convene in a Congress, which gave rise to the Hanseatic League,
is not out of the Course of public business but is, what the Nature of the present
crisis, in a more than ordinary necessity, requires.43 Whether Some general council, on the model of that concerted between the great Henry
of France and Elizabeth of England,44 two as noble Spirits and as wise Politicians as the World hath Since Seen, should
not now be proposed, not indeed a Council of Administration, for regulating and conducting
a general political system of all Europe, but a Council of Commerce, for Europe and
N. America exclusive of every point of Politicks. As such it should remain, a standing
perpetual Council of deliberation and Advice, and a seat of Judicial Administration
common to all. Also a Great and General Court of Admiralty, to take Cognizance of
Disputes, and offences, which shall be committed against the general laws of trade.

Such a Council might not only prevent, a most dreadful general War, which Seems to
be coming on in Europe (by the Way a very great mistake) but might be forever a means
of preventing, future occasions of War, from commercial quarulls, the present vague
State of the marine Law of nations, seems to be such, as creates a necessity of such
a measure. At present all Principle, Rule and Law, seems to be as much lost, as if
the nations were fallen back to the old State of Piracy, under their old Barbarism.
Europe cannot, even in War, go on under the present Abrogation of all treaties, and
all the Laws of nations.45

The Cardinal Points which will come under deliberation will be 1. how far in Right
and Policy, it may be best for all to establish, the Mare liberum:46 and how far each Nation (providing for the property and Dominion, which they hold
in Bays and Harbours,) may acceed to this Establishment, as a law of nations. 2. how
far the universal Jus navigandi47 may be established48 3. This will lead to deliberation on the Libertas universalis Commerciorum49 Free Ports and Free Marketts. Next Port Duties and Toll Marketts. It will be best
by { 191 } degrees to abolish all Port duties, and raise their revenues by Exise, Tailles, &c.
and other internal Sources of finance, immediately laid on the Consumer.50 This measure would make that Country which adopted it a free port a circumstance
very desirable to every well Wisher to his Country.51 They will deliberate first, on the Nature and Extent of the conditional grants of
Priviledges of Trade, which, Under the Air of Protection, they shall offer to America: Under this Idea, they must settle with her, and amongst
each other quite new Arrangements of Tarifs, &c.

In a former Letter I have given Congress, some Observations on a Letter of Mr. H.
This contains an Account of the substance of a Volume of Governor Pownall, which as
the Book is not my own I cannot send to Congress as I wish to do.53 Both have Relation to the Object of my Mission. These two Gentlemen have both declared
themselves, in Parliament for pacific measures, but from some sentiments in these
Writings, it is not very likely they will succeed. Both seem to be wholly uninformed
of the State of Europe. Both seem to suppose that the Powers of Europe, the maritime
Powers will go to War, with the English against us and our Allies. Congress were fully
informed last August54 that there was no danger of this. The late Declaration of the Ottoman Port, of the
Empress of Russia, and the measures taking by the other maritime Powers demonstrate
that the Information Congress then received was right, and the Imaginations of these
Writers of general Wars are groundless. There may be indeed some danger, that the
Pride and Obstinacy of the English, may involve every maritime Power, in a War as
well as a league against them.

I have the Honour to be, with entire Respect and Attachment, sir your most obedient
and humble servant.

[signed] John Adams

RC (PCC, No. 84, I, f. 479–494); docketed: “Letter from John Adams April 19. 1780 An account
of governor Pownals pamphlet entitled 'A Memorial to the sovereigns of Europe on the
present State of Affairs between the old and the New World' Recd. 19 Feby 1781.” LbC in John Thaxter's hand with corrections by JA (Adams Papers); notation by Thaxter: “49.” The text printed here should be compared with JA's Translation (No. II, below), which is virtually identical to the Translation published at London in Jan. 1781.

2. This and the preceding paragraph are an accurate digest of the first four and a half
pages of the Memorial. As Pownall indicates in a note on page 1 of the Memorial, much of what he says in this section, some of it in quotation marks, was taken from
his Administration of the Colonies (London, 1764, p. 1–10), although in the Memorial it is given a different twist. This is true of his statements regarding the evolution
of a new system based on “the Spirit of Commerce,” as well as those regarding a new
“Center of Gravity.” In both the Administration (p. 2) and the Memorial (p. 1), Pownall saw changed circumstances as creating a “Nascent Crisis,” but the
two works presented fundamentally different solutions to the crisis. See Editorial Note (above).

3. To this point JA copied this paragraph from the Memorial (p. 8–9) with relatively few changes for the sake of style or clarity. The remainder
of this sentence, however, with its explicit reference to the international consequences
of waging the war in America is by JA.

4. In copying the remainder of this sentence from the Memorial (p. 9) JA made substantial changes that partially alter Pownall's meaning. In the Memorial the passage reads “however long, to their mutual ruin, they may continue the contest,
by which they hope to decide, to which of them as allies, foedere inequali, the Americans shall belong, the Americans will belong to neither.”

6. In the Memorial (p. 11–12) Pownall attributes his views on the greatness of states to the writings
of Sir Francis Bacon and then quotes (p. 12) from Bacon's unfinished work “Of the
True Greatness of the Kingdom of Britain,” which formed the basis for his later essay
“Of the True Greatness of Kingdoms and Estates.” The remainder of this sentence is
JA's reworking of the passage from Bacon to the effect “that in the measuring and balancing
of greatness, too much is ascribed to largeness of territory on one hand, and on the
other too much to the fruitfulness of soil, or abundance of commodities” (par. 2,
sentences 1 and 3).

7. This and the preceding two paragraphs are JA's condensation of approximately seven printed pages from the Memorial (p. 11–17). Some of JA's deletions were to improve Pownall's style, but most were intended to keep the focus
of the text on North America, specifically the British colonies, and to avoid digressions
on the progress of civilization or colonization elsewhere.

8. This sentence is a much condensed version of a passage in the Memorial (p. 18) in quotation marks that was taken, with some revisions, from Administration (p. 7).

10. This and the preceding two paragraphs, which correspond to approximately ten printed
pages in the Memorial (p. 17–27), constitute the largest block of text to be omitted from the Translation.
JA's motive for the omission was probably his belief that the references to the West
Indies and South America were not relevant to his argument. Moreover, the discussion
of the Spanish possessions in South America and their progress under Spanish rule
would naturally raise the question of the impact of the American Revolution on the
Spanish colonies. This at a time when the United States was seeking a treaty with
a Spain already troubled by the implications of the American revolt.

12. Except for a word or two, this paragraph is wholly JA's with no counterpart at this point in the Memorial (p. 27), but is a kind of prelude that is reprised later in much greater detail (Memorial, p. 45–51; see also note 42). JA likely had two reasons for inserting the paragraph. The first was stylistic, to provide
a smoother transition to the paragraphs on the progress of civilization in America
that follow, but the second was substantive. JA wished to emphasize from the beginning a major theme in both the Memorial and the Translation: that is, that American ingenuity, born of freedom from European restrictions, was
creating a civilization and a viable economic system that would soon be equal or even
superior to any in Europe and was progressing at a much faster pace than anyone would
have expected.

13. This and the paragraphs that follow on the progress of civilization were likely derived
and expanded from what Pownall had written in Administration (p. 3–4). But they should also be compared with JA's “Dissertation on the Canon and the Feudal Law” (vol. 1:103–128). There JA had written of the effect that freedom from the archaic European social, religious,
and political system had had on American development. It is likely that one reason
that JA was drawn to the Memorial was the similarity between Pownall's senti• { 193 } ments and his own regarding the legacy of the “Clergy” and “feudal Lords.” Such a
conclusion is supported by JA's letter to Edmund Jenings on 20 April (below), in which he requested Jenings to obtain for him a copy of a previous English
edition of the “Dissertation” and to seek its republication.

14. This paragraph is a condensation of approximately three pages of the Memorial (p. 31–33) and at this point JA entirely omitted from his copying a page and a half of text (p. 32–33). The section
commented on the effect of the practices and reasoning of the “Lords” in the development
of agriculture and was probably seen by JA as repetitious and a digression from the discussion of the farmer's condition.

15. This paragraph is a condensation of approximately eight pages of the Memorial (p. 34–42) and at this point JA entirely omitted from his copying two pages of text (p. 39–41). The section probably
was omitted because it dealt with the reasoning behind the restrictive economic system's
development, rather than with JA's primary interest: its operation and ill effects.

16. This and the following paragraphs noting the impact of American ingenuity on the progress
of civilization were taken with very little change from the Memorial (p. 45–51). For JA's earlier celebration of this theme, see note 12.

17. Pownall's comments in this paragraph regarding gold and silver and the balance of
trade should be compared with Adam Smith's in the Wealth of Nations, bk. 4, chap. 1.

18. By Benjamin Franklin, this piece first appeared as an appendix to [William Clarke],
Observations On the late and present Conduct of the French, with Regard to their Encroachments
upon the British Colonies in North America (London, 1755) and had numerous reprintings in both Great Britain and America. See
also, Franklin, Papers, 4:225–234.

19. In the Memorial (p. 56–58) the text of this paragraph formed part of a much longer one that filled
approximately two printed pages, three quarters of which were omitted by JA as a block. The missing text duplicated at length what was retained so that nothing
of substance was lost by its omission.

20. At this point in copying from the Memorial (p. 60) JA omitted several words. In the Memorial the sentence reads “As there never was a regulated general militia in PENNSYLVANIA,
which could enable those, whose business it was, to get accounts of the increase of
population in that province, founded on authentic lists, it hath been variously estimated
on speculation.”

21. In the Memorial (p. 65) the remainder of this paragraph was in quotation marks and was taken from
Bacon's “Of the True Greatness of the Kingdom of Britain” (par. 3). Immediately preceding
it in the Memorial, but not copied by JA, was another quotation from Bacon's essay to the effect that “The real greatness
and strength of the State arises and consists in this 'that every common subject,
by the poll, is fit to make a soldier, and not certain conditions and degrees of men
only'” (par. 3).

22. In the Memorial (p. 65–67) this paragraph is followed by almost two pages of text that JA omitted as a block. The missing material was a discourse by Pownall on the inevitable
loss of empire, regardless of its population or territorial extent, resulting from
the absence of the necessary “spirit” to govern. JA presumably thought it irrelevant in view of the paragraph that follows and because
he was far less concerned with the factors leading to the breakup of the British empire
than to the reality that, for the United States, the dissolution was an established
fact.

23. This paragraph and the nine that follow (see note 32) comprise approximately twenty
pages of the Memorial (p. 67–86). They form the largest block of text copied by JA from the Memorial with no substantive changes in either Pownall's style or meaning.

24. In the Memorial the preceding eight words are in quotation marks and are from Numbers 23:24.

25. It is amazing to relate how quickly the state grew once it had acquired liberty (Salust
Conspiracy of Catiline, 7. 3).

26. At this point in the Memorial there is an asterisk referring to a footnote citing “Common Sense” as the source
for three quoted passages that follow (for the 2d and 3d, see note 28). The first
passage, set off by quotation marks, was composed of two sentences designated I and
II and a third ending with the words “exclusion of the rest” (p. 78–79). JA removed the quotation marks and inserted arabic numerals, but copied the three sentences
almost verbatim. Although Thomas Paine's writings, particularly the section of Common Sense entitled “Thoughts on the Present State of American Affairs” (Phila., 1776, p. 29–60;
Evans, No. 14954), clearly influenced Pownall's views regarding the future of American
foreign policy and the com• { 194 } mercial and political relationship between the United States and Europe, the editors
have failed to locate the passage quoted here in any of Paine's work. This may indicate
that in this instance Pownall paraphrased and combined several of Paine's observations
(see Common Sense, p. 37–38), but in any case, both here and later (see note 28), some modification
of Paine's statements was necessary since Common Sense was written in 1776, prior to the Franco-American treaties and the outbreak of war
between Britain, France, and Spain.

27. In the Memorial this word was “invariably.” JA's substitution of “inviolably” makes it a much stronger commitment to neutrality.

28. The remainder of this paragraph, to the words “better Market,” formed a separate paragraph
in the Memorial (p. 79), containing two passages in quotation marks. The first begins “it is the
commerce” and ends with the word “benefitted,” while the second begins “that that
commerce” and ends with the words “better market.” JA removed the quotation marks, but otherwise copied the entire paragraph almost verbatim.
The quoted material, modified by Pownall, was taken from the “Appendix to Common Sense:
The necessity of Independancy,” from Thomas Paine, Common Sense with the Whole Appendix (Phila., 1776, p. 126; Evans, No. 14966). As it appeared in Common Sense, the passage read “It is the commerce, and not the conquest of America, by which
England is to be benefited, and that would in a great measure continue, were the countries
as independant of each other as France and Spain; because in many articles, neither
can go to a better market.”

29. In his letter to Edmund Jenings of 18 July (first letter, below), JA noted that one of the reasons that he was drawn to the Memorial was that it supported the very principles that had guided him when he had drafted
the Treaty Plan of 1776 and which he continued to hold in 1780 (vol. 4:260–261). In
fact, this and the preceding paragraph, both copied almost exactly as they appear
in the Memorial (p. 77–80), constitute as definitive a statement of JA's views on the correct course for American foreign policy as exists anywhere.

30. Ceded to Russia by Sweden in 1721 under the terms of the Treaty of Nystad, Livonia
now forms parts of Latvia and Estonia.

31. This sentence does not appear in the Translation. JA probably decided to omit it because the Dutch feared precisely such an outcome from
American independence (vol. 7:102, 128–129, 236; see also >Jean Luzac's letter of 14 Sept., and notes, below). See, however, the following paragraph for a reference to a possible
Dutch-American rivalry in the Spice Islands that was retained.

32. At this point in the Memorial (p. 86), Pownall began a new paragraph and JA completed his largely verbatim copying of approximately twenty pages of text (see
note 23).

33. At this point in the Memorial (p. 88) JA omitted approximately three quarters of a page. The omitted material consisted of
a closing sentence for this paragraph, which was repetitive and added little to the
discussion of emigration, and a long and ponderous opening to the following paragraph.

38. For the impact on JA of this sentence in the Memorial (p. 94), see his first letter to Jenings of 18 July (below). In the Memorial the sentence read “France on the contrary, already (and other States will follow
this example) acknowledging those states to be what they are, has formed alliances with them on terms of perfect equality and reciprocity.”

39. In the Memorial (p. 113) the remainder of this sentence is in quotation marks and is preceded by
an asterisk. JA removed the quotation marks, but copied the passage verbatim. The footnote indicated
by the asterisk cites “Dr. Adam Smith” as the source for the quotation, which is taken
from Smith's An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, 2 vols., London, 1778. In the second edition, London, 1778, the passage appears
on 2:270.

41. The remaining five paragraphs of JA's abridgement correspond to the final ten pages of the Memorial (p. 118–127). A comparison of this letter and the Memorial (see notes 43, 45, 48, and 51) indicates that JA included less than fifty percent of the Memorial's text and, in fact, that the two paragraphs preceding “Finis” condense the final
five pages of the Memorial. Moreover, when JA copied out the Translation for Jenings he made additional cuts (see notes 42 and
51) so that the Translation was an even greater abridgement of this section of the Memorial than this letter. For { 195 } the significance of the cuts, see note 42.

42. As printed here this paragraph very closely follows the text of the Memorial (p. 118–119), but should be compared with the corresponding paragraph in the Translation
(at note 2) which was considerably altered by JA in preparing the Translation for Jenings. JA's changes in this paragraph, his omission of portions of the Memorial's text from the remaining paragraphs of the letter to the president of Congress,
and the further deletions he made when he copied out the Translation are important
because they fundamentally changed the thrust of Pownall's argument calling for the
establishment of a council of the sovereign states to resolve the issues raised by
the American Revolution.

43. At this point JA omitted approximately three quarters of a page of text from the Memorial (p. 119–120). The section was an elaboration of Pownall's proposal to use the Hanseatic
League as a model for his council, but see note 44.

44. This reference is presumably to Henry IV's “grand design” to unify Europe under his
authority and leadership that was forestalled by his assassination in 1610, but with
which Elizabeth I was reportedly in essential agreement. Pownall's borrowing of this
as a model for his plan was probably due to his reading of bk. 30 of the Mémoires of Maximilien de Béthune, Duc de Sully, superintendent of finances under Henry IV.
That work is the only known source for Henry's plan and the absence of any corroboration
makes its existence debatable.

45. At this point JA omitted half a page of text from the Memorial (p. 123). The passage introduced the paragraph that follows and its omission served
to tighten up the text. It ended, however, with the statement that the delegates to
the council should come “with powers and instructions to form some general laws and
establishment on the ground of Universal Commerce.” Taken with this paragraph and
that which follows such a statement takes on some significance and to some extent
explains JA's decisions as to what material to retain or delete from the Memorial. As has been noted earlier in relation to Catherine II's declaration of an armed
neutrality (to the president of Congress, 10 April, No. 40, note 3, above) there was no provision in the eighteenth century for a principle, such as
free ships make free goods, to become part of the necessary law of nations simply
because any number of nations agreed to a particular principle, since the necessary
law had its source in natural law. A principle agreed to by two or more nations became
part of the stipulative law and was not binding on those that did not agree. Thus
JA likely saw this portion of Pownall's proposal as he did Catherine's declaration,
an opportunity to change the foundation of the law of nations in favor of the United
States at the expense of Great Britain, since it was likely that any general European
council would accept the principle that free ships made free goods and other alterations
of the law in favor of neutral trade in time of war.

48. At this point JA deleted the following text appearing in the Memorial (p. 124): “consistent with the present national claims of the several Maritime States,
or how those may be accommodated, mutually and reciprocally, so as to lead to such
establishment hereafter. On this ground they will naturally meet each other, in forming
at least some general system of regulations and laws, common to all, under which this
universal commerce may act and be protected: So that the exercise of this right may
extend wheresoever the ocean flows and be as free as the air which wafts it over that
ocean in all directions.” JA certainly was in accord with the aim expressed at the end of the passage, but was
undoubtedly dubious of principles “established consistent with the present national
claims of the several Maritime States,” since that would undermine what he sought
for the United States: complete freedom of commerce.

50. The following sentence, considerably altered, was part of a passage taken by Pownall,
with only minor changes, from Sir Matthew Decker's essay: Serious Considerations on the Several High Duties which the Nation in General, (as
well as its Trade in Particular) Labours Under . . ., London, 1743; 7th edn., London, 1756, p. 31. Decker was a prosperous London
merchant, governor of the East India Company, member of Parliament, and sometime writer
on trade regulation (DNB). The complete quotation in the Memorial (p. 125–126) read “Add to this that it would be a means of making that country which
adopted this measure, A FREE PORT; a circumstance very desireable to every well wisher
of his country. See then whether it does not deserve the care of every worthy patriot
to make such a scheme (if it can be), feasible and practica• { 196 } ble.”

51. The remainder of this paragraph does not appear in the Translation. The decision not
to include this passage meant that JA omitted from the Translation, except for the final French quotation, the text from
the final two pages of the Memorial (p. 126–127). The portion initially omitted from this letter consisted of approximately
a page and a quarter and concerned the difficulties faced by the European nations
in integrating the United States into the system, difficulties that JA saw existing only in the English mind. The deletion of the passage from the Translation
probably reflected JA's belief that the right of the United States to trade with whomever it pleased belonged
to it by right, rather than as a grant from some outside power.

52. This is all that can reasonably be demanded. Humanity can only plan and act. Success
is the work of a hand more powerful. For Pownall's probable motive in quoting from
bk. 30 of the Mémoires of Maximilien de Béthune, Duc de Sully, see note 44. This marks the end of both Pownall's
Memorial and the Translation.

53. For JA's analysis of David Hartley's letter of 21 March to the chairman of the Council of
the County of York, see his second letter of 18 April to the president of Congress (No. 48, above).

54. JA probably means his own analysis of the European political situation in his letter
of 4 Aug. 1779 to the president of Congress (vol. 8:108–120).

Docno: ADMS-06-09-02-0115-0003

Author: Adams, John

Recipient: Pownall, Thomas

DateRange: 1780-07-08 - 1780-07-14

II. Translation of Thomas Pownall's Memorial

A Translation of the “Memorial to the Sovereigns of Europe,” into common Sense and
<plain> intelligible English

A Pamphlet has been published in England, under the Title of “A Memorial to the Sovereigns
of Europe, on the present State of Affairs, between the old and new World.” It is
said to have been written by Governor Pownal:2 and there are So many quaint Words, and dark Expressions, intermixed with So many
good Thoughts and So much Knowledge of America that it seems worth translating. <into common Sense and plain English.>

The Memorialist begins, with observing very justly, that at the End of the last War,
a new System was begun, both political and commercial, which is now compleatly formed:
that the Spirit of Commerce has become a leading Power: that at that time, the Center
of this System was Great Britain, whose Government might, if it had been wise, have
preserved the Advantage of continuing the Center both of the Commerce and Politicks
of the World: but being unwise, they disturbed the Course of Things, and have not
only lost, forever, that dominion, which they had and might have held, but the extirnal
Parts of the Empire are, one after another falling off, and it will be once more reduced
to its insular Existence.

On the other hand, this new System of Power, moving round its own proper Center, which
is, America, has dissolved all the Forces { 197 } Sent against it by the English. and has formed natural Connections, with France and
Spain, and other Countries. Founded in Nature, it is growing, by accellerated motions,
into a great and powerfull Empire. It has taken its equal Station among the nations
of the Earth. Video Solem orientem in Occidente. <North America> The Congress of3 The United States of North America is a new primary Planet, which taking its Course
in its own orbit, must have an Effect upon the orbit of every other, and Shift the
common Center of Gravity of the whole System of the European World. The are De Facto,
an independant Power, and must be so de Jure.

The Politicians of Europe, may reason; and the Powers of Europe may negotiate or fight:
but such Reasonings, Negotiations, and Wars, will have no Consequence on the Right
or the Fact. It would be just as wise to fight or negotiate for the dominion of the
moon, which is common to them all; and all may profit of her reflected Light. The
Independence of America, is as fixed as Fate. She is Mistress of her own Fortune;
knows that She is So; and will manage that Power which She feels herself possessed
of, to establish her own System, and change that of Europe.

If the Powers of Europe, will See the State of Things, and act accordingly, the Lives
of Thousands may be Spared, the Happiness of millions Secured and the Peace of the
World preserved: if not, they will be plunged into a Sea of Blood. The War, which
is almost gorged, between Britain and America, will extend itself to all the maritime
Powers, and most probably afterwards to all the Inland Powers, and like the thirty
years War of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, will not end, but by a general
Resettlement of Interests, according to the Spirit of the new System, which has taken
Place. Why may not all this be done, by a Congress, of all Nations, before, as well
as after the War?

The final Settlement of Power, at a Peace, is never in Proportion to the Success of
Arms. It depends upon the Interposition of Parties, who have not meddled in the War,
but who come to the Treaty of Peace, brought forward by Intrigue, with the Aid of
Jealousy, and counteract by Negotiation the Envied Effects of Arms.

The Britons have forced the present system into Establishment, before its natural
Season. They might have Secured the Attachment of the Plantations for years to come:
but it was a principal part of the Plan of the confidential Counsellors, in a general
Reformation of the Kings Government, to reform the Constitutions of America. They
were informed it would lead to War, but they thought it would be a { 198 } good measure to force the Americans to Arms. Conquest of which they were sure, would
give them the right of giving what Constitutions they thought fit, Such as that of
Quebec, little foreseeing what a War it would prove, and Still less Suspecting, that
France and Spain, and all the rest of the World, would interpose.

None of the Powers of Europe, and few of the most knowing Politicians have considered,
what Effect this Revolution will have on the general System of Europe. (Note. Here
it Should Seem, Governor Pownal is mistaken. Every Power in Europe, and every great
Politician in Europe, except those in Great Britain, have digested this Subject.)

One Thing is certain, that on whatever Ground the War between G. Britain and Bourbon
began, whatever course it may take, however long they may continue it, to their mutual
destruction, the Americans will never belong to either Foedere inaquali. The Powers
of Europe who will become Parties, before these affairs <come> shall have been brought to the Issue will concur, in no other Settlement, than that
these States are an independant Sovereign Power, holding a free Commerce equally with
all.

In order to Shew how these matters will finally be Settled, he proposes to lay before,
the Sovereigns, a View of Europe and America, and point out, what will be the natural
Effects of the Seperation of them, and of the Independence of America, upon the commercial
and political State of Europe; and finally to Shew how, the present Crisis, may be,
by Wisdom and Benevolence, wrought into the greatest Blessing of Peace, Liberty and
Happiness, which the World hath yet Seen.

He then proceeds to compare, the new and old World, in Point of Spirit, Magnitude
and Power. In measuring the Magnitude of States too much is commonly ascribed, to
Extent of Country and Fertility of Soil. That Extent of Dominion, which is most capable
of a Systematical Connection and Communication, has the most natural Greatness. The
three other Parts of the World, are naturally Seperated from each other, and altho,
once under the dominion of the Romans, as this was an unnatural Exertion, beyond the
Resources of human nature, it Soon dissolved, and they Seperated. Europe, Asia, and
Africa, are not only Seperated by their local Positions but are inhabited by distinct
Species of the human Being. North and South America, are, in like manner naturally
divided. North America is possessed, by Englishmen, and this natural Circumstance
forms this division of America into one great Society, the Basis of a great { 199 } Dominion. There is nowhere in Europe So great and combined an Interest, communicating
through So large a Territory, as that in North America. The northern and Southern
Parts of Europe, are possessed by different nations, actuated by different Sovereignties
and Systems. Their Intercourse is interrupted: they are at perpetual Variance. Intercourse
is difficult over Land, and by Sea. They are cutt off, by intervening nations. On
the contrary, when North America is examined, you find every Thing united in it, which
forms Greatness. The nature of the coast and the Winds renders communication by navigation
perpetual. The Rivers open an Inland navigation, which carries on a Circulation through
the whole. The Country thus united, and one part of it, communicating with another,
by its Extent of Territory, and Variety of Climates, produces all that nature requires,
that Luxury loves, or that Power can employ. All those Things, which the Nations of
Europe, under every difficulty, that a defect of natural communication, under every
Obstruction that a perverse artificial System throw in their Way, barter for; are
in North America possessed, with an uninterrupted natural Communication, an unobstructed
navigation and an universal Freedom of Commerce, by one Nation. The naval Stores,
Timber, Hemp, Fisheries, and Salt Provisions of the North; the Tobacco, Rice, Cotton,
Silk, Indigo, Fruits and perhaps Wines, Resin and Tar, of the South, form a Reciprocation
of Wants and Supplies. The Corn, Flour, Manufactures &c. of the middle States, fill
up the Communication and compleat its System. They unite those Parts, which were before
connected, and organize the Several Parts, into one whole.

Civilization, next to Union of System and Communication of Parts constitute, what
Lord Bacon calls, the Amplitude and Growth of State. The Civilization of America,
may be compared to that of Europe. It is Superiour to that of Europe. Architecture,
Painting, Statuary, Poetry, oratory, and the mechanick Arts are not So well understood
and practiced nor are the Sciences, those of Government and Policy particularly, So
learnedly mastered by any Individual in America, as they are by Some in Europe. But
Arts, Sciences, Agriculture, Manufactures, Government, Policy, War, and Commerce,
are better understood by the Collective Body of the People in America than they are
by that of Europe, or any nation in it. And this is the only Way of Stating the Comparison
of Civilization, and in this Respect America is infinitely further removed from Barbarity,
than Europe.

Translation of the Memorial to the Sovereigns of Europe upon the present State of
Affairs between the old and the new World, into common Sense, and intelligible English,
continued.

When the Spirit of Civilization began first in Europe, after the barbarous Ages of
the northern Invaders; the Clergy were the blind Leaders to Light, and the feudal
Lords, the Patrons of Liberty. What Knowledge! What Liberty! The Instruction of the
first was more pernicious than Ignorance. The Patronage of the last was the Benevolence
of the Grazier, who fattens his Cattle for the Profit of their Hides and Tallow. The
People held their Knowledge, as they did their Lands, by a servile Tenure, which did
not permit them to Use it as their own. Such was the Source of Civilization in Europe.

The first movement of Civilization, is the application of Labour to the Culture of
the Earth, in order to raise that Supply of food, which is necessary for Men in Society.
The application of Labour to Architecture, Cloathing, Tools and Instruments is concomitant
with this. Marketts, in which a Reciprocation of Wants and surplusses, is accomplished,
Succeed. Hence arise by a farther Improvement Artificers and Manufacturers: and in
succession, a surplus is created beyond what is wanted by the Individuals or the Community,
which produces Commerce, by exchanging this surplus for Articles of Conveniency, or
Enjoyment, which the Country does not produce. By the Violence of the military Spirit,
under which Europe was a second Time peopled, the Inhabitants were divided into two
Classes, Warriours and Slaves. Agriculture, was conducted by the latter; Wretches
annexed to, not owners of the Soil; degraded Animals! Cattle! Property! Not Proprietors!
They had no Interest in their own Reason, Labour or Time. They had neither Knowledge nor Motive to make an Effort of Improvement. Improvement in
Agriculture, was therefore many hundred Years at a Stand. Altho in Some Countries
of Europe it may Seem at present progressive, it is so slow, that for Ages, it can
have no great Effect, except perhaps in England, yet even here the Farmer is absurdly
and cruelly oppressed. Manufactures, or the Labour of Men, in Wool, Iron, Stone, or
Leather, were held as the Servile offices of Society, and fit only for Slaves. These
Artificers were mere Machines of the most arrogant and ignorant Masters. They would
never make Experiments—so that Mechanicks and Arts went on for Ages without Improvements.

Upon the Dissolution of the Hanseatick League, the Sovereigns, { 201 } who had Seen the Power, which arose from manufactures and Trade, began to encourage
their Subjects and invite Strangers, to establish them. Civilization took a momentary
Start. But the Policy of the Sovereigns, held the Manufacturers in a wretched Condition,
by many obstructing Regulations. The same Policy affecting to encourage Manufactures,
gave them a false help, by Setting assizes on the Produce of Land, which oppressed
Agriculture. This Same System of Policy, confined Ingenuity, by making imposing Regulations,
on every motion of Manufactures, on their coming from the Hand of the Workman; on
the Carriage; on the Sale; on the Return, whether in goods or Money. This Policy was
directed to draw into the Treasury of the State, all the Profit beyond the Labourers
Subsistance. Commercial Legislation was directed wholly, to make the subject Sell,
but not buy: export Articles, but import money of which the State must have the greatest
share. Hence exclusive Property of certain materials of manufacture, which they called
Staple Commodities—hence monopolies—exclusive Priviledges of Trade, to Persons, Articles
and Places; exclusive Fisheries; hence the notions of the Ballance of Trade: and hence
the whole Train of Retaliations, Restraints on Exportation; Prohibitions of Importation;
alien Duties, Imposts. Having thus rendered Communication among themselves almost
impracticable, they were forced to look out for foreign Settlements. Hence Colonies,
which might be worked like out Farms for the exclusive Benefit of the Metropolis.
Hence that wildest of all the wild Visions of Avarice and Ambition, the Attempt to
render the Ocean an Object of Property; the Claim of Possession in it, and dominion
over it. Thus Civilization was obstructed, the Spirit of Improvement checked, and
the Light of Genius extinguished. Events may arise, which may induce, the Rulers of Europe, to revise and reform the hard Conditions
of its Imprisonment, and give it Liberty.

In America, all the Inhabitants are free, and allow universal naturalization to all
that wish to be so, and a perfect Liberty of using any mode of Life they choose, or
any means of getting a Livelihood, that their Talents lead them to. Their Souls are
their own. Their Reason is their own. Their Time is their own. They are their own
Masters. Their Labour is employed on their own Property, and what they produce is
their own. Where every man has the free and full Exertion of his Powers, and may acquire
any Share of Profit or Power that his Spirit can work him up to, there is an unabated
Application; and a perpetual Struggle of Spirits, sharpens the Wit, and trains the
Mind. The Acquisition of Knowledge in Business, necessary to this mode of { 202 } Life, gives the Mind a Turn of Investigation, which forms a Character peculiar to
these People. This is called Inquisitiveness, which goes often to ridicule, but is
in matters of Business and Commerce an usefull Talent. They are animated with the
Spirit of the New Philosophy. Their Life is a Course of Experiments; and Standing
on as high Ground of Improvement as the most enlightened Parts of Europe have advanced,
like Eaglets commence the first Efforts of their Pinnions from a Towering Advantage.

In Europe the poor mans Wisdom is despized. The poor mans Wisdom is not Learning but
Knowledge of his own Picking up, from Facts and nature, by Simple Experience. In America,
the Wisdom and not the Man is attended to. America is the Poor Mans Country. The Planters
there reason not from what they hear, but from what they See and feel. They follow
what mode they like. They feel that they can venture to make Experiments, and the
Advantages of their Discoveries are their own. They therefore try what the Soil claims,
what the Climate permits, and what both will produce to the greatest Advantage. In
this Way, they have brought into Cultivation, and Abundance of what no Nation of the
old World ever did, or could. They raise not only plenty and Luxury for their internal
Supply, but the Islands in the West Indies have been Supplied from their Superabundance,
and Europe, in many Articles has profited of it. It has had its Fish from their Seas:
its Wheat and Flour from one Part: its Rice from another part: its Tobacco and Indigo
from another: its Timber and naval Stores from another. Olives, oranges and Wines
are introducing by Experiments.

This Spirit of Civilization first attaches itself to mother Earth, and the Inhabitants
become Land Workers. You See them labouring at the Plough and the Spade, as if they
had not an Idea above the Earth yet their minds are all the while enlarging all their
Powers, and their Spirit rises as their Improvements advance. Many a real Phylosopher,
Politician and Warriour, emerges out of this Wilderness, as the Seed rises out of
the Ground.

They have also made many Improvements in Handicrafts, Tools and machines. Want of
Tools and the Unfitness of Such as they had, have put these Settlers to their Shifts,
and these shifts are Experiments. Particular Uses calling for Some Alteration, have
opened many a new Invention. More new Tools and machines, and more new Forms of old
ones, have been invented in America than were ever invented in Europe in the Same
Space of Time. They have not turned their Labour into Arts and manufactures, because
their Labour em• { 203 } ployed in its own natural Way can produce those Things which purchase Articles of
Arts and manufactures, cheaper, than they could make them. But tho they dont manufacture
for Sale, they find Fragments of Time which they cannot otherwise employ, in which
they make most of the Articles of personal Ware and Household Use, for home Consumption.
When the Field shall be filled with Husbandmen and the Classes of Handicraft fully
Stocked, as there are no Laws, which impose Conditions, on which a Man is to become
intituled to exercise this or that Trade, or by which he is excluded, from exercising
the one or the other, in this or that Place: none that prescribe the manner in which
or the Prices at which he is to work, or that confine him even to the Trade he was
bred to; the moment that Civilization carried on in its natural Course, is ripe for
it, the Branch of Manufactures, will take root, and grow with an astonishing Rapidity.
Altho they do not attempt to force the Establishment of manufactures, yet, following
the natural Progress of Improvement, they every Year produce a Surplus of Profit.
With these Surplusses, and not with manufactures, they carry on their Commerce. Their
Fish, Wheat, Flour, Rice, Tobacco, Indigo, Live Stock, Barrell Pork and Beef, Some
of these being peculiar to the Country and Staple Commodities, form their Exports.
This has given them a direct Trade to Europe and a circuitous one to Africa and the
West Indies. The Same Ingenuity, in mechanicks which accompanies their Agriculture,
enters into their Commerce, and is exerted in Ship building. It is carried on, not
only for their own Freight, and that of the West Indies, but for Sale, and to Supply
a great Part of the Shipping of Britain; and if it continues to advance will Supply
a great Part of the Trade of Europe with Ships, at cheaper Rates, than they can any
where, or by any means Supply themselves. Thus their Commerce, altho under various
Restrictions, while they were Subordinate Provinces, by its advancing Progress, in
Shipbuilding, hath Struck deep Roots, and is now Shot forth into an active Trade,
Amplitude of State and great Power.

It will be objected, that the Ballance of Trade has been at all Times against America
So as to draw all the Gold and Silver from it, and for this Reason it cannot advance
in commerce and opulence. It will be answered, that, America, Even while in depressd
and restrained Provinces, has advanced its Cultivation to great Opulence, and constantly
extending the Channells of its Trade, and increasing its Shipping. Tis a fallacious
Maxim to judge of the general Ballance of Profit in Commerce, by the motions of one
Article of Commerce, the { 204 } prescious metals. These metals will always go to that Country that pays the most for
them. That country, which on any Sudden Emergency wants Money, and knows not how to
circulate any other than Silver and gold, must pay the most for them. The Influx of
them, therefore, into a Country, instead of being a Consequence of the Ballance of
Trade being in its Favour, or the Efflux being a Mark of the Ballance being against
it, may be a Proof of the Contrary. The Ballance of Trade, reckoned by the Import
or Export of Gold and Silver, may in many Cases be Said to be against England and
in Favour of the Countries to which its Money goes. If this Import or Export, was
the Effect of a final Settled Account, instead of being only the Transfer of this
Article to or from an Account currant (as it commonly is) yet it would not be a Mark
of the Ballance of Trade. England, from the Nature of its Government, and Extent of
its Commerce, has established a Credit, on which, in any Emergency, it can give Circulation
to Paper Money, almost to any Amount. If it could not, it must at any Rate, purchase
gold and Silver, and there would be a great Influx of the prescious Metals. Will any
one Say, that this is a Symptom of the Ballance of Trade being in its favour! But,
on the contrary having Credit, from a progressive Ballance of Profit, it can, even
in Such an Emergency, Spare its Gold and Silver, and even make a Profit of it, as
an Article of Commerce exported. Here We See, the Ballance of Profit creating a Credit,
which circulates as money, even while its gold and Silver are exported. If any Event
like the Recoignage of the Gold in England which called in the old Coin at a better
Price, than that at which it was circulating abroad, Should raise the Price of this
article, in England, it will for the Same reason, as it went out, be again imported
into England, not as a Ballance of Accounts, but as an Article of Trade, of which,
the best profit could at that moment be made. The Fact was, that at that period, Quantities
of English Gold Coin, to a great Amount, were actually imported into England in bulk;
and yet this was no mark of any Sudden Change of a Ballance of Trade in favour of
that Country. The Ballance of Trade reckoned by this false Rule, has been always Said
to be against North America: but the Fact is, that their Government, profiting of
a Credit arising from the progressive Improvements, and advancing Commerce of the
Country hath, by a refined Policy, established a Circulation of Paper money, to an
Amount that is astonishing. That from the immense quantity, it should depreciate,
is nothing to this argument, for it has had its Effect. The Americans therefore can
Spare their Gold and Silver as well as England, and { 205 } Information Says, there is now locked up in America, more than three millions of English
money, in Gold and Silver, which when their Paper is annihilated, will come forth.
The Efflux, therefore of Gold and Silver, is no Proof of a Ballance against them:
on the contrary, being able to go without Gold and Silver, but wanting other Articles
without which they could not proceed in their Improvements, in Agriculture, Commerce,
or War, the Gold and silver is, in Part hoarded, and part exported for these Articles.
In Fact, this objection, which is always given as an Instance of Weakness in America,
under which, she must Sink, turns out, in the true State of it, an Instance of the
most extensive Amplitude and Growth of State. It would be well for England, if, while
She tryumphs over this mote in her Sisters Eye, She would attend to the Beam in her
own, and prepare for the Consequences of her own Paper Money.

From this Comparison of the State of Civilization, applied to Agriculture, Mechanicks
and Commerce, extended through a large Territory, having a free Communication through
the whole, it appears, that North America has advanced, and is every day advancing,
to a Growth of State, with a constant and accellerating motion, of which there has
never been any Example in Europe.

To be continued.

Translation of the Memorial to the Souvereigns of Europe, continued.

The two Countries may be compared, in the Progress of Population. In North America
Children are a Blessing. They are Riches and Strength to the Parents. In Europe, Children
are a Burden. The Causes of which have been explained in the observations concerning
the Increase of Mankind, the Peopling of Countries &c. Take a few Examples. The Massachusetts
Bay, had, of Inhabitants in the Year 1722 Ninety four Thousands. In 1742 one hundred
Sixty four Thousands. In 1751 when there was a great depopulation both by War and
the Small Pox one hundred and Sixty four Thousand, four hundred and Eighty four. In
1761, 216,000. In 1765 255,500. In 1771 292,000. In 1773 300,000. In Connecticutt,
in 1756 129,994. In 1774 257,356. These Numbers are not increased by Strangers, but
decreased by Wars and Emigrations to the Westward, and to other States, yet they have
nearly doubled in Eighteen years.

In N. York in 1756—96,776—in 1771—168,007. In 1774—182,251. In Virginia in 1756—173,316.
In 1764—200,000. In 1774—300,000. In S. { 206 } Carolina in 1750—64,000. In 1770—115,000. In R. Island in 1738—15,000. In 1748—28,439.

As there never was a militia in Pensilvania, with authentic Lists of the Population,
it has been variously estimated on Speculation. There was a constant Importation for
many years of Irish and foreign Emigrants, yet many of these Settled in other Provinces:
but the Progress of Population, in the ordinary course advanced in a Ratio, between
that of Virginia and that of Massachusetts Bay. The City of Philadelphia advanced
more rapidly. It had in 1749—2076 Houses. In 1753—2300. In 1760—2969. In 1769—4474.
From 1749 to 1753 from 16 to 18,000 Inhabitants; from 1760 to 1769 from 31,318 to
35,000. There were in 1754 various Calculations and Estimates made of the Numbers
on the Continent. The Sanguine made the Numbers, one million and an half. Those who
admitted less Speculation into the Calculation, but adhered closer to Facts and Lists,
Stated them at one million, two hundred and fifty thousand. The Estimate Said to be
taken in Congress in 1774 makes them 3,026,678. But there must have been great Scope
of Speculation in that Estimate. Another after two or three years of War is Two Million
Eight hundred and Ten Thousand. 2,141,307 would turn out nearest to the real amount
in 1774. But what an Amazing Progress, which in 18 years has added a million to a
million two hundred and fifty thousand, altho a War was maintained in that country
for seven years of the Term. In this View one sees a Community unfolding itself beyond
any Example in Europe.

But the Model of these Communities, which has always taken Place, from the Beginning,
has enrolled, every Subject as a Soldier, and trained a greater Part or 535,326 of
these People to Arms, which number the Community has, not Seperate from the civil,
and formed into a distinct Body of regular Soldiers, but remaining united in the internal
Power of the Society, a national Piquet Guard, always prepared for defence. This will
be thought ridiculous by the regular Generals of Europe: But Experience hath evinced,
that for the very Reason, that they are not a Seperate Body, but members of the Community,
they are a real and effectual Defence. The true Greatness of a State consists in Population,
where there is Valour, in Individuals, and a military Disposition in the Frame of
the Community: where all, and not particular Conditions and degrees only, make Profession
of Arms, and bear them in their Country's defence.

This Country is now an independent State, and has been avowedly and compleatly so,
for more than four Years. It is indeed Six years, Since it was so in Effect. It hath
taken its equal Station among the { 207 } Nations. It is an Empire, the Spirit of whose Government, extends from the Center
to the extream Parts. Universal Participation of Council, creates Reciprocation of
universal Obedience. The Seat of Government, will be well informed of the State and
Condition of the remote and extream Parts, which by Participation in the Legislature,
will be informed and Satisfied in the Reasons and necessity of the Measures of Government.
These will consider themselves as acting in every Grant that is made, and in every
Tax imposed. This Consideration will give Efficacy to Government, that Consensus Obedientium,
on which the permanent Power of Empire is founded. This is the Spirit of the new Empire
in America. It is liable to many disorders, but young and Strong, like the Infant
Hercules it will Strangle these Serpents in the Cradle. Its Strength will grow with
Years. It will establish its Constitution and perfect Growth to Maturity. To this
Greatness of Empire, it will certainly arise. That it is removed Three thousand miles
from its Ennemy; that it lies on another Side of the Globe, where it has no Ennemy:
that it is Earth born and like a Giant ready to run its Course, are not the only Grounds,
on which a Speculatist may pronounce this. The fostering Care with which the Rival
Powers of Europe will nurse it, ensures its Establishment, beyond all doubt or danger.

When a State is founded on such Amplitude of Territory; whose Intercourse is So easy;
whose Civilization is So advanced; where all is Enterprize, and Experiment: where
Agriculture has made So many discoveries of new and peculiar Articles of Cultivation:
where the ordinary Produce of Bread Corn, has been carried to a degree, that has made
it a Staple Export, for the Supply of the old World: whose Fisheries are mines, producing
more Solid Riches than all the Silver of Potosi: where Experiment hath invented so many new and ingenious Improvements in mechanicks:
where the Arts, Sciences, Legislation and Politicks, are Soaring with a Strong and
Extended Pinion; where Population has multiplied like the Seeds of the Harvest: where
the Power of these numbers, taking a military Form, shall lift itself up as a young
Lion: where Trade of extensive orbit, circulating in its own Shipping, has wrought
these Efforts of the Community to an active Commerce: where all these Powers have
united and taken the Form of Empire; I may Suppose I cannot err, or give offence to
the greatest Power in Europe, when upon a Comparison of the State of Mankind and of
the Powers of Europe, with that of America, I venture to Suggest to their Contemplation,
that America is growing too large for any Government in Europe to manage as subordinate.
{ 208 } That the Government of Congress and the States is too firmly fixed in the Hands of
their own Community to be either directed by other Hands, or taken out of those, in
which it is. And that the Power in Men and Arms is too much to be forced, at the distance
of Three Thousand miles. Were I to ask an Astronomer whether, if a Satellite Should
grow, untill it could ballance with its Planet, whether it could be held any longer,
by any of the Powers of nature in the orbit of a Satellite, and whether any external
Force could keep it there, he will answer me directly, no. If I ask a Father, after
his Son is grown up to full Strength of Body, Mind and Reason, whether he can be held
in Pupillage, and will Suffer himself to be treated and corrected as a Child, he must
answer, No. Yet, if I ask an European Politician, who learns by Hearsay and thinks
by Habit, whether North America will remain dependent, he answers, Yes. He will have
a Thousand reasons why it must be So, altho Fact rises in his Face to the very contrary.
Politicians, instead of being employed to find out Reasons to explain Facts, are often
employed with a Multitude about them, to invent and make Facts according to predetermined
Reasonings. Truth, however, will prevail. This is not Said to prove, but to explain
the Fact, So that the Consequences may be Seen. The present Combination of Events,
whether, attended to or not, whether wrought by Wisdom into the System of Europe or
not, will force its Way there, by the Vigour of natural causes. Europe, in the course
of its commerce, and even in the internal order and Oeconomy of its communities, will
be affected by it. The Statesman cannot prevent its Existence, nor resist its operation.
He may embroil his own Affairs, but it will become his best Wisdom, and his duty to
his Sovereign and the People, that his measures coincide and cooperate with it.

The first Consequence of this Empire, is, the Effect it will have as a naval Power
on the Commerce, and political System of Europe.

Whoever understands the Hanseatic League, and its Progress, in naval Power, by possessing
the commanding Articles of the Commerce of the World; the command of the great Rivers;
its being the Carrier of Europe; that it could attract, resist and even command the
landed Powers; that it was made up of Seperate and unconnected Towns, included within
the dominions, of other States; that they had no natural communication, and only an
artificial Union: whoever considers, not only the commercial but naval and political
Power, which this League established throughout Europe, will See, on how much more
Solid a Basis, the Power of North America Stands; how much faster it must grow, and
to what an Ascendancy of Interest, { 209 } carrying on the greatest Part of the Commerce, and commanding the greatest Part of
the Shipping of the World, this great commercial and naval Power must Soon arrive.
If the League, without the natural Foundation of a political Body, in Land, could
grow by commerce and navigation to such Power: if, of Parts Seperated by nature and
only joined by Art and Force, they could become a great political Body, acting externally
with an Interest and Power, that took a lead and even an Asendancy, in Wars, and Treaties.
What must North-America, removed at the Distance of half the Globe, from all the Obstructions
of Rival Powers, founded in a landed Dominion peculiarly adapted for Communication
of Commerce, and Union of Power, rise to in its Progress? As the Hanseatic League
grew up to Power, Denmark, Sweeden, Poland, and France, Sought its Alliance, under
the common Veil of Pride, by offers of becoming its Protectors. England also growing
fast into a commercial Power, had commercial Arrangements, by Treaty, with it. Just
so now, will the Sovereigns of Europe; just so have, the Bourbon Compact, the greatest
Power in Europe, courted the Friendship of America. Standing on Such a Basis, and
growing up under Such Auspices, one may pronounce of America, as was said of Rome
Civitas incredibile est memoratu, adepta Libertate, quantum brevi creverit.

In the Course of this American War, all the Maritime Powers of Europe, will one after
another, as Some of the leading ones have already done, apply to the States of America,
for a Share, in their Trade, and for a Settlement of the Forms, on which they may
carry it, on, with them. America, will then become, the Arbitress of the Commercial,
and perhaps as the Seven united Belgic Provinces were in the Year 1647 the Mediatrix
of Peace, and of the political Business of the World.

If North America follows the Principles on which nature has established her; and if
the European Alliances Which She has made do not involve her in and Seduce her to,
a Series of Conduct, destructive of that System, which those Principles lead to, She
must observe, that as nature hath Seperated her from Europe, and established her alone
on a great Continent, far removed from the old World, and all its embroiled Interests,
and wrangling Politicks, without an Ennemy or a Rival or the Entanglement of Alliances.—1.
that it is contrary to her Interest, and the Nature of her Existence, that She Should
have any Connections of Politicks with Europe, other than merely commercial; and even,
on that Ground, to observe inviolably the caution of not being involved, in either
the Quarrells, or the Wars of Euro• { 210 } peans. 2. That the real State of America is, that of being the common Source of Supply
to Europe in general, and that her true Interest is therefore, that of being a free
Port to all Europe at large, and that all Europe, at large, Should be the common market
for American Exports. The true Interest therefore of America, is, not to form any
partial Connections with any Part, to the Exclusion of the rest. If England had attended
to her true Interest, as connected with that of America, She would have known that
it is the Commerce, and not the Conquest of America by which she could be benefited:
and if She would even yet, with temper listen to her true Interest, She would Still
find, that that Commerce, would in a great measure continue, with the Same benefit,
were the two Countries as independent of each other as France and Spain, because in
many Articles, neither of them can go to a better market. This is meant as under their
present habits and Customs of Life. Alienation may change all this.

The first great leading Principle will be that North America, will become a free Port
to all the nations of the World, indiscriminately; and will expect, insist on, and
demand, in fair Reciprocity, a free market in all those nations with whom She trades.
This will, if She forgets not, nor forsakes her real nature, be the Basis of all her
commercial Treaties. If She adheres to this Principle, She must be in the course of
Time, the chief Carrier of the commerce of the whole World, because unless the Several
Powers of Europe, become to each other, likewise free Ports and free marketts, America
alone will come to and act there, with an ascendant Interest, that must command every
Advantage to be derived from them.

The Commerce of North America, being no longer, the Property of one Country only,
her Articles of Supply will come freely, and be found now in all the Marketts of Europe:
not only moderated by, but moderating the Prices of the like Articles of Europe. The
Furs and Peltry will meet those of the North East Parts of Europe; and neither the
one nor the other can any longer be estimated by the Advantages to be taken of an
exclusive Vent. Advantages of this Kind, on Iron and naval Stores, have frequently
been aimed at by Sweeden: and the Monopoly in them was more than once used as an Instrument
of Hostility against England, which occasiond the Bounties on those articles, the
Growth of America, which gave rise to the Export of them from America. When they come
freely to the European Market co-operating with the Effect which those of Russia have,
will break that monopoly. For Russia, by the Conquest of Livonia, and the Advancement
of her Civilization has become a Source of Supply in { 211 } these Articles, to a great Extent. All Europe by the Intervention of this American
Commerce, will find the good Effects of a fair Competition, both in Abundance of Supply,
and in moderation of Price. Even England who hath lost the Monopoly, will be no great
Looser. She will find this natural Competition as advantageous to her, as the Monopoly,
which in Bounties and other Costs of Protection, She paid so dear for.

Translation &c. continued.

Ship building and navigation having made Such Progress in America, that they are able
to build and navigate cheaper, than any Country in Europe, even than Holland with
all their Oeconomy, there will arise a Competition in this Branch of Commerce. There
will also be a Competition in the marketts of Europe, in the Branch of the Fisheries.
The Rice and Corn, which the Americans have been able to export, to an amount that
Supplied in the European Markett, the defect arising from Englands withholding her
Exports will, when, that Export Shall again take Place, keep down depressed, the Agriculture
of Portugal and Spain and in Some measure of France, if the Policy of those countries
does not change the Regulations, and order of their internal Oeconomy. The particular
Articles, to be had as yet from America only, which Europe So much Seeks after, will
give the Americans the Command of the Markett in those Articles, and enable them,
by annexing assortments of other Articles, to produce those also, with Advantage in
these marketts. The Refuse Fish, Flour, Maize, Meat, Live Stock, Lumber &c. all carried
in American Shipping to the West India Islands: the African Slaves, carried by a circuitous
Trade, in American Shipping also to the West India Marketts: taking from thence the
Molasses: aiding those Islands with American shipping in the Carriage of their produce,
must ever command, and have the Ascendancy, in that Part of the World, if this ascendency
even Stops here. The cheap manner, in which the Americans produce their Articles of
Supply: the Low Rates, at which they carry them to Europe, Selling also their shipping
there: the Small profits at which their Merchants are used to Trade, must lower the
Price of the like Articles in Europe: oblige the European Merchants to be content
with a less Profit: occasion Some reform in the Oeconomy of Europe, in raising and
Police in bringing to Markett, the active Articles of Supply. But further, the Americans
by their principle of being a free Port in America and having a free Markett { 212 } in Europe; by their Policy of holding themselves, as they are remote from all the
wrangling Politicks, So neutral in all the Wars of Europe: by their Spirit of Enterprize,
in all the quarters of the Globe, will oblige the nations of Europe to call forth
within themselves Such a Spirit, as must entirely change its commercial System also.

But will a People whose Empire Stands Singly predominant, on a great Continent, who
before they lived, under their own Government, had pushed their Spirit of Adventure
in Search of a North West Passage to Asia, Suffer in their Borders the Establishment
of Such a Monopoly as the European Hudsons Bay Company? Will that Spirit which has
forced an extensive Commerce in the two Bays of Honduras and Campeachy, and on the
Spanish main, and which has gone to Falkland's Islands in Search only of Whales, be
Stopped at Cape horn, or not pass the Cape of Good Hope? It will not be long, after
their Establishment as an Empire, before they will be found trading in the South Sea
and in China. The Dutch will hear of them in Spice Islands, to which the Dutch can
have no Claim, and which those Enterprizing People will contest, on the very ground,
and by the very Arguments, which the Dutch used to contest the Same Liberty against
Portugal. By the Intercourse and correspondance, which there will be between Europe
and America, it will be as well known, as Europe. By Attention, to the Winds, Currents,
the Gulph Stream and its Lee Currents, the Passage will be better understood, and
become shorter. America will Seem every day to approach nearer and nearer to Europe.
When the Alarm which the Idea of going to a Strange and distant Country, gives to
a Manufacturer or Peasant, or even a Country Gentleman, Shall thus be worn out; a
thousand Attractive motives respecting a Settlement in America will raise a Spirit
of Adventure, and become the irresistable Cause of a general Emigration to that World.
Nothing but Some future, wise and benevolent Policy in Europe, or Some Spirit of the
Evil one, which may mix itself in the Policy of America can prevent it. Many of the
most usefull Enterprizing Spirits, and much of the active Property will go there.
Exchange hath taught the Statesmen of the World long ago, that they cannot confine
money: and the Governments of Europe, must fall back to the Feudal Tyranny, in which
its own People are locked up, and from which all others are excluded, or Commerce
will open a Door to Emigration.

These Relations of Things; these Leges et Foedera Rerum are forming the new System.
The Sublime Politician, who ranges in Regions of predetermined Systems—the Man of
the World, narrowed { 213 } by a selfish Experience, worse than Ignorance, will not believe: and it is but Slowly,
that nations relinquish any System, which hath derived Authority from Time and Habit.
These Sovereigns of Europe, who have despized the awkward Youth of America, and neglected
to form Connections, and interweave their Interests with these Rising States, will
find the System of this new Empire, obstructing and Superseding the old System of
Europe, and crossing all their maxims and measures. They will call upon their Ministers
Come curse me this People, for they are too mighty for me. The Spirit of Truth will
answer How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed? How shall I defy, whom the Lord
hath not defied? From the Top of the Rock, I See them, and from the Hills, I behold
them. Lo! the People shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations.
On the contrary those Sovereigns, who Shall See Things as they are, and form, if not
the earliest, yet the most Sure and natural Connections with America, as an independent
State; as the Market of and a free Port to Europe: as that being which must have a
free Markett in Europe, will become the principal leading Powers in Europe, in regulating
the Courses of the rest, and in Settling the common Center of all.

England is the State in those Circumstances, and in that Situation. Similar modes
of living and thinking, Manners, and Fashions, Language and Habits, all conspire naturally
to a Rejunction by Alliance. If England would treat America, as what She is, She might
Still have the ascendency in Trade and navigation: might Still have a more Solid and
less invidious Power than that Magni Nominis Umbra with which she braves the whole
World. She might yet have an active leading Interest among the Powers of Europe. But
She will not. As though the Hand of divine Vengeance was upon her, England will not
See the Things which make for her Peace! France, who will be followed by other nations,
acknowledging these States to be what they are, has formed Alliances, with Terms of
perfect Equality and Reciprocity. And behold the Ascendant to which She directly arose,
from that politick Humiliation. There never was a wiser or a firmer Step taken by any established Power, than that
which the new States took for their first Footing in this Alliance. There never was
more Address, Art, or Policy Shewn by any State, than France has given Proof of, in
the Same, when both agreed and became allied on Terms, which exclude no other Power,
from enjoying the Same Benefits by a like Treaty. Can it be Supposed that other States,
conceiving that the exclusive Trade of England to America is laid open, will not desire,
and have their { 214 } Share? They certainly will. Here then are the Beginnings of Changes in the European
System.

There are two Courses, in which this general Intercourse of Commerce, between Europe
and North America, may come into operation: one, by particular Treaties of Commerce
the other by all the maritime States of Europe, previous to their engaging in a War
or upon the general settlement of a Peace, meeting in Some Congress, to regulate among
themselves as well as with north America; the Free Port, on one Hand, and the free
Markett on the other, as also general Regulations of Commerce and navigation, Such
as must Suit this free Trader, now common to them all, indifferently, and without
Preference. Such Regulations, must exclude all Monopoly of this source of Supply and
course of Trade, and So far make an essential Change in the commercial system. Such
Regulations, not having Reference only to America, but reciprocal References, between
all the contracting Parties, trading now, under different Circumstances, and standing
towards each other in different Predicaments, must necessarily change the whole of
that System in Europe.

The American will come to Markett in his own ship, and will claim the Ocean as common:
will claim a navigation restrained by no Laws, but the Laws of nations, reformed as
the rising Crisis requires: will claim a free Markett, not only for his Goods but
his ship, which will make a Part of his Commerce. America being a free Port to all
Europe, the American will bring to Europe not only his own peculiar Staple Produce,
but every Species of his produce which the Markett of Europe can take off: he will
expect to be free to offer to Sale in the European Markett, every Species of wrought
materials, which he can make to answer in that markett: and further as his Commerce
Subsists, by a circuitous Interchange with other Countries, whence he brings Articles
not Singly for his own Consumption, but as exchangeable Articles, with which he trades
in foreign Marketts; he will claim as one of the Conditions of the free Markett, that
these foreign Articles, as well as his own Produce, Shall be considered as free for
him to import in his own shipping to such Market. Those States who refuse this at
first, Seeing others acquiesce in it, and Seeing also how they profit by having Articles
of Supply and Trade, brought so much cheaper to them, will be obliged, in their own
defence, and to maintain their Balance in the commercial World, to accede to the Same
Liberty. Hence again, even if the American should not, by these means, become the
ascendant Interest in the carrying Trade and in { 215 } shipping and Seamen, a most essential Change, must arise in the European System.

The American raises his produce and navigation cheaper, than any other can: his Staples
are Articles which he alone can Supply. These will come to market assorted with others,
which he thus can most conveniently Supply; and unless the Same freedom of Trade which
he enjoys, be reciprocally given and taken by the European Powers, among each other,
he will come to the European market, on Terms, which no other can: but Europe will
be affected, benefited, and improved by his manner of trading. The peculiar Activity
of the Americans, will raise a Spirit and Activity among those, who come to the Same
market. That peculiar Turn of Character, that Inquisitiveness, which in Business animates
a Spirit of Investigation to every Extent, and the minutest detail, enables them to
conduct their dealings in a manner more advantageous, than is usually practised by
the European Merchant. They acquire a Knowledge not only of the Marketts of Europe,
that is of the Wants and Supplies, how they correspond, and of their relative Values;
but they never rest, till they are possessed of a Knowledge of every Article of Produce
and Manufacture, which comes to those Marketts; untill they know the Establishments,
the operations and the Prices of Labour, and the Profits made on each, as well, even
better, than the Merchants of the Country themselves. A little before the War, Several
of the American Merchants, especially those of Pensilvania, Sending some of their
own Houses to England, became their own Factors, went immediately to the Manufacturers
in Birmingham, Wolverhampton, and Sheffield; to the woolen Manufacturers in Yorkshire,
and Lancashire: to those of Liverpool, and those in the West: and opened an immediate
Trafick with them at the first hand. This Same Spirit of Investigation and Activity,
will activate their dealings in every other Country of Europe. The Effect of this,
instead of being disadvantageous to those Countries, will become a general Blessing;
by raising a more general Competition, and diffusing a more proportional Share of
Profit, between all Ranks of the industrious. While Trade is Solely in the Hands of
the Merchant he bears hard on the Purchaser, by his high Profit, and oppresses the
Manufacturer by the little share he allows him. The merchant grows rich and magnificent,
makes a great Bustle and Figure. It can never be well where Merchants are Princes.
The more the Merchant can make by high Profit, the less quantity will he carry to
markett. Whereas when Commerce Shall be free, and { 216 } by the Mixture of this American Spirit, trade run with fair Competition in a broad
Channell, the Merchant must make his Way by being content with small profit, and by
doing a deal of Business, on those Small Profits. The Consumer and Manufacturer will
come nearer together—the one will Save an unreasonable Advance, and the other obtain
a more equal Share of Profit. More Work will be done: The Profits of Industry more
equally distributed—The Circulation will Spread through the lesser Vessells, and Life,
Health, and Growth be promoted.

If these operations take this Course, it will be needless to point out to the Shrewd
Speculations of the Merchants, what their Conduct must necessarily be. But it will
behove Statesmen, to be aware that they do not Suffer the Merchant to perswade them,
that the Commerce is languishing merely because there is not the Same Parade of Wealth,
in such dazzling Instances. Let them look to the Marketts of Supply, and See if there
is not plenty. Next to the rude produce, which is the Basis of manufactures, and enquire,
whether, while more and more Industry, is daily called forth, it is not employed,
and more adequately paid, by a free and extended Vent? While the Numbers and Ingenuity
of Manufacturers increase they do not all live more comfortably, so as to have and
maintain increasing Families? Whether Population does not increase? Let them in future
guard against the exclusive Temper of Trade. The political Founders of the old System,
were totally ignorant of this Principle of Commerce. It was Wisdom with them to render
their neighbours and Customers poor. By a wretched System of Taxation they effectually
prevented the Stock of Labour and Profit from accumulating. But if the Statesmen of
the present enlightened Age, will follow, where Experience leads to Truth and Right,
they will throw the Activity of mankind into its proper Course, of productive Labour.
When Man has the Liberty of exerting his Industry and Ingenuity as he can make them
the most productive; finds a free market, and his share of Profit; then is the Ground
duely prepared for Population, Opulence and Strength. Then will the Sovereigns of
Europe find their Interest and their Power, in their Peoples Happiness.

Translation &c

If the Sovereigns of Europe, Should find, that the System of Colonies in distant Regions,
for the Purpose of monopolies, is at an End, and turn their Attention, to give Exertion
to their own internal { 217 } Powers, like the Police of China, cultivate their waste Lands, improve Agriculture,
encourage manufactures, and abolish Corporations: as all the Remnants of Barbarism
Shall be removed, the Powers of the Community will create those Surplusses which will
become the Source, and open the Channels of Commerce. If they Should See the Dissappointments
of attempts to establish a monopoly of navigation by the Force of Laws, instead of
creating or maintaining it, by the Spirit of an active Commerce; that all the Prohibitions
by which they labour to oppress their neighbours do but depress them Selves, they
may come to think that giving Freedom and Activity to commerce, is the true System
of every commercial Country. Suppose them checked in their Career of War, hesitating
on the maxims of their old Systems, perceiving that the Oeconomical Activity of Europe,
is on the Turn to take a new Course, feeling the Force of an active Commerce, finding
themselves under the Necessity of making Some Reform, Should begin to Speculate, how
amidst a Number of Powers of Trade, Shifting their Scale, an even Ballance may be
formed and Secured; how amidst a Number of Interests, floating on the Turn of this
great Tide in the affairs of Men, an equal Level may be obtained, if, on a Review
of their old System they should perceive how it is prepared for Change, they may find,
that Commerce, which might have risen by Competition, Industry, Frugality, and Ingenuity,
hath long been an exclusive Scrambling Rivalship. Instead of being an equal Communication,
concentring the Enjoyments of all Regions and Climates, and a Consociation of all
nations, in one Communion of the Blessings of Providence; when actuated as it has
been by a Selfish Principle, it hath been to the nations an occasion of Jealousies,
alternate depressions of each others Interests, and a never ceasing Source of Wars,
perhaps they may also See that Treaties of Peace have been but Truces and Guarrantees
so many entangling Preparations for future Wars. On the other Hand they Should See
with Pleasure, that the manners of Mankind, Softening by degrees, have become more
humanized; their Police more civilized; and altho many of the old oppressive Institutions
of Government, as they respect Husbandry, Manufactures, Merchants, Marketts and Commerce,
have not yet been formally abolished; yet that Practice, by various Accommodations,
has abrogated their most mischievous operations; that the Activity of Man finds every
day, a freer Course; that there are a Thousand Ways, which although Pride will not
open Prudence will connive at; through which the Intercourse of Marketts finds every
Year, a freer Vent; and that the active Spirit of Commerce is { 218 } like the Spirit of Life, diffusing itself through the whole Mass of <Life> Europe. They will find there is an End of all their monopolizing Systems: They will
See that any one of the Powers of Europe, who would aim to deal with the rest of mankind,
with an unequal Ballance, will only find, that they have raised among their Neighbours
a Jealousy, that will conspire to wrest that false Ballance out of their Hands, and
to depress them down again to a level with the rest of the World. The Cities of Italy,
the low Countries, Portugal, Holland, England, have all, for their Period, as commercial
Powers, arisen above the common Level, but pressing, with a Weight which was felt
as unequal by those below them, they have each in its Turn found, even in the moment
of their highest Elevation, a general Rising all around them, and themselves Sinking
to the common Level. Statesmen must See, how much it is the Interest of all, to liberate
each other, from the Restraints, Prohibitions, and Exclusions, by which they have
aimed to depress each other. They will See, that the most advantageous Way, which
a landed nation can take, to encourage and multiply Artificers, Manufacturers and
Merchants of their own, is to grant the most perfect Freedom, to the Artificers, Manufacturers,
and merchants of every other nation. That a contrary Practice lowers the Value of
their own internal Productions, by raising the Prices of all Things, which must be
bought with them; and gives to the Artificers, Manufacturers and Merchants a monopoly
against their own Farmers. Seeing this, they will encourage Population, and an universal
Naturalization, and Liberty of Conscience. If Nature has so formed man and Policy,
Society, that each labouring in his Line, produces a Surplus of Supply, it is both
perfect Justice and Policy that Men and nations Should be free, reciprocally to interchange
it. This Communion of nations is a Right, which may be enjoyed in its genuine Spirit
and utmost Extent, except in Time of War, and even then to a great degree, without
interfering in the political and civil Power of the World. The Spirit of those exclusive
Laws of navigation will appear as the Spirit of Piracy. The common Ocean, incapable
of being defined, or of a Special Occupancy, or of receiving exclusively the Labour
of any Individual, Person, or State, is incapable of becoming an Object of Property,
never an Object of Dominion: and therefore the Ocean, Should in Policy, as it is in
Fact, remain common and free. Pervium cunctis Iter. If it should be Seen, that the
commercial System of Europe is changing, and in Wisdom and Policy ought to be changed:
that the great Commerce of North America, emanci• { 219 } pated from its provincial State, not only coincides with, but is a concurring Cause
of this Change: that the present Combination of Events form a Crisis, which Providence,
with a more than ordinary Interposition hath prepared: and that Heaven itself Seems
to call upon Sovereigns to co-operate with its gracious Providence: if they should
be convinced, that there is nothing so absurd, as warring against each other about
an Object, which as it is Seperated from Europe, will have nothing to do with its
Broils, and will not belong exclusively to any one of them: if listening to this Voice,
which as that of an Angel, announcing Peace and good Will to Mankind, Summons them
to leave off the endless, useless operations of War; to consider the present Crisis
as an Object of Council and not of War, and therefore to meet in Communication and
Intercourse of their reasoning Powers.

The maritime Powers must before Peace respecting America, and the mixed Interests
of Europe and America, can be Settled, convene, by their ministers, in order to consider
the Points on which they may Safely Suspend Hostilities, and those which must form
the Basis of Treaty, and which will enter into the future System and on which Peace
may not only be made, but established among the nations of the Atlantic Ocean.4

Will not Reason and Benevolence, then, in which true Policy, and their Right and best
Interest is included, Suggest to their Hearts, and actuate their Councils to convene
a Congress, before they are engaged in further Hostilities; before the devastation
of War, extends Ruin and Misery yet farther. Some Such measure, as led the great trading
Bodies of Europe to convene in a Congress, which gave rise to the Hanseatic League,
is not out of the Course of public Business but is what the nature of the present
Crisis, in a more than ordinary Necessity requires. Whether Some general Council,
on the Model of that concerted between the Great Henry of France and Elizabeth of
England, two as noble Spirits and as wise Politicians as the World hath Since Seen,
Should not now be proposed; not indeed a Council of Administration, for regulating
and conducting a general political System of all Europe but a Council of Commerce
for Europe and North America, exclusive of every Point of Politicks.

Such a Council might prevent future Occasions of War, from commercial Quarrells. The
present vague State of the marine Law of Nations, Seems to be Such, as creates a necessity
of Such a measure. At present, all Principle, Rule, and Law, Seem to be as much lost
as { 220 } if the nations were fallen back to the old State of Piracy under their old Barbarism.
Europe cannot, even in War, go on under the present Abrogation of all Treaties, and
all the Laws of Nations.

The Cardinal Points which will come under Deliberation, will be 1. how far, in Right
and Policy, it may be best for all to establish the Mare liberum. And how far each
nation, providing for the Property and Dominion, which they hold in Bays and Harbours,
may accede to this Establishment, as a Law of Nations. 2. How far the universal Jus
navigandi, may be established. 3. This will lead to Deliberation on the Libertas universalis
Commerciorum; free Ports; and free Marketts. It will be best by degrees to abolish
all Port Duties, and raise their Revenues by Excise, Tailles &c. and other internal
Sources of Finance, immediately laid on the Consumer. This Measure would make that
Country which adopted it a free Port, a Circumstance very desirable to every well
wisher to his Country.

MS (Adams Papers); notation by Edmund Jenings on final page: “The Manuscript must be preserved about
54 pages”; filmed at [5 Sept. 1780], Adams Papers, Microfilms, Reel No. 352. The text presented here represents the editors' attempt to present
the Translation as it appeared when JA sent it off to Edmund Jenings, and thus it does not contain editorial changes made
by either Jenings or his printer, John Stockdale. Substantive changes made by JA as he prepared the manuscript are indicated in the text or notes, but annotation
has been limited to matters unique to this document. For JA's preparation of the manuscript, its dispatch to Jenings, and its editorial treatment,
see the Editorial Note (above). For the issues raised in the manuscript, see the notes to JA's letter of 19 April to the president of Congress (No. I, above).

1. These dates are derived from JA's letters to Edmund Jenings of 8 July (Adams Papers), with which were enclosed the first four sections of the manuscript, and of 14 July (below), with which the final section was sent; but see also Jenings' replies of
15 and 21 July (both below). The division of the manuscript into five sections, each with its
own title, may indicate that JA expected his Translation to be published in the form of newspaper essays, rather
than combined in a pamphlet.

2. “Pownall” appears throughout the published Translation as “P——l.” In Pensées, however, “Pownall” is retained throughout and at this point is followed by a passage
identifying him as the former lieutenant governor of New Jersey and governor of Massachusetts.

3. Here JA canceled “North America,” replaced it with “The United States of North America,”
and then decided to begin the sentence with “The Congress of.” The changes focused
the reader's attention on the new nation, but they also substantively changed the
meaning. This is particularly so of the second with its implication that United States
sovereignty resided in Congress rather than in the states, probably the prevailing
view in 1780.

4. Compare this paragraph with that in the letter to the president of Congress (at note 50, No. I, above).

5. The text ends in the middle of the third { 221 } page of the fifth section, but is followed by a canceled sentence that reads in part,
“Dont you think the Translation has a [ . . . ] of [ . . . ].”

Docno: ADMS-06-09-02-0116

Author: Adams, John

Recipient: Jenings, Edmund

Date: 1780-04-20

To Edmund Jenings

There is a little Pamphlet, which was written by me in the Year 1765, and published
at Boston, afterwards reprinted in England, under the Title of “a Dissertation on
the Cannon and the feudal Law.” It is a kind of philosophical and political Rhapsody,
written when I was not very old, and when I had certainly Seen very little of this
World, and knew but little of Men or Things. It was ascribed, in the time of it to
Jeremiah Gridley Esq, the greatest Lawyer, that ever was in Boston, who was my Patron
in my Youth. He died before the Pamphlet came over under his name or he would have
publickly disclaimed it, because he was on the other side in Politicks. It was printed,
or bound up in a small Pamphlet under the Tittle of the true sentiments of America,
with Letters from the House of Representatives of Mass Bay, to several great Men.
I want to beg the favour of you to write to England to obtain it for me, and to get
it printed in the Remembrancer.2 They may put my name to it, if they please. It may be thought vanity in me, perhaps
to say it, but it had an Effect upon the People of New England beyond all Imagination.
It appeared to them to point out the means by which human nature had been degraded
in Europe, to shew them that their Ancestors had wisely and virtuously endeavored,
to Screen them from those means, and perhaps no one thing that ever was written or
done contributed more than that Publication, to unite the People of New England, as
one Man in the Resolution of opposing force, to the stamp Act, and of having recourse
to Arms rather than submit to it. I have Reasons of a public nature to wish to see
this published at this time,3 which perhaps sometime or other you may know. I shall, take occasion to let you further,
into some particulars of my History, which is altogether unknown I find in Europe.
You will never find me any, very great Matter, but you will find, that I have been
twenty Years, in the midst of Politicks and through the whole of it, invariably constant
to the same Principles and the same system, through all Opprobriums, Obloquies, Dangers,
Terrors, Losses, and Allurements.

I ask your Pardon sir, for giving you so much trouble, but I take Advantage of your
friendly Professions, and I assure you confidence { 222 } is a Plant of slow growth in my Bosom, Altho it was very far otherwise twenty years
ago. I have not yet found in Europe another Person, to whom I can unbosom myself.

I shall put you to expence, perhaps for Postage or otherwise, which I shall be glad
to repay.

2. For the text of “A Dissertation on the Canon and the Feudal Law,” together with an
account of its origin, importance, and various printings, including that referred
to here by JA: The True Sentiments of America, London, 1768, see vol. 1:103–128. Despite JA's request in this letter, the “Dissertation” was not reprinted until 1782 and then
as part of A Collection of State-Papers, Relative to the First Acknowledgment of the Sovereignty
of the United States of America, and the Reception of Their Minister . . . by . .
. the states General of the United Netherlands. To which is Prefixed the Political
Character of John Adams, Ambassador . . . to . . . the Netherlands. By an American.
Likewise an Essay on Canon and Feudal Law, by J. Adams, Esq., London, 1782. See also Jenings' reply of 24 April, and JA's letter to Jenings of the 29th (both below).

3. JA's motivation for having the “Dissertation” reprinted was almost certainly his reading
of Thomas Pownall's pamphlet, A Memorial, Most Humbly Addressed to the Sovereigns of Europe, London, 1780. For the linkage perceived by JA between the “Dissertation” and Pownall's Memorial, see JA's Translation of Pownall's Memorial, 19 April – [ca. 14 July], Editorial Note and No. I., note 13 (above).

Docno: ADMS-06-09-02-0117

Author: Wilson, James

Recipient: Adams, John

Date: 1780-04-20

From James Wilson

Duplicate

[dateline] Philada. 20th. April 1780

[salute] Sir

Your Inclination to oblige will excuse the Trouble, which I intend to give you. I
was nominated by Mr. Gerard to be Advocate General for the French Nation in the United
States, subject to the Ratification of the King.1 If his Majesty shall be pleased to honour me with his Commission, I have requested
that two hundred Pounds Sterling may be appropriated for the Purchase of Books; and
have taken the Liberty to mention you to Mr. Gerard, as the Gentleman, who would perform
the good Office of purchasing them for me. I aim at a good Collection of Treaties,
and of Books on the Laws of Nations, the Laws maritime, and the Laws of France respecting
Navigation and commercial Affairs. I wish to have also some of the best Books on the
History and Policy of the Kingdom. You can form the Catalogue much better than I can
do. Mr. Deane will be good enough to take the Care of sending them to America.

I have been favoured, by Mr. Marbois, with the Perusal of the Plan of a Constitution
for Massachussets, reported by a Committee of the Convention of that Commonwealth.
From the masterly Strokes of profound Jurisprudence, and of refined and enlarged Policy,
which distinguish that Performance, I can easily trace it to its Author. The Constitution
of every State in the Union is interesting to the Citizens of every other State; as
each spreads, in some Degree, its Influence over all. For this Reason, I feel a very
sensible Pleasure, when I see a Prospect that happy Governments will be established
around me. This Sentiment has, in no Instance, been more highly gratified, than by
the Plan reported for the Government of Massachussets.

I have the Honour to be, with the greatest Esteem, Sir Your most obedient and most
humble Servant

1. In anticipation of profiting from a greatly expanded Franco-American trade, Wilson
had proposed his appointment as “advocate-general” to John Holker, French Consul-general
at Philadelphia, in Dec. 1779. Although Holker and Silas Deane, after Deane's return
to France in July as Wilson's agent in various matters, strongly supported his candidacy,
the French court balked at Wilson's fee and did not grant him the desired appointment
(Charles Page Smith, James Wilson: Founding Father, 1742–1798, Chapel Hill, 1956, p. 140–142).

Docno: ADMS-06-09-02-0118

Author: Franklin, Benjamin

Recipient: Adams, John

Date: 1780-04-21

From Benjamin Franklin

[dateline] Passy, April 21. 1780

[salute] Dear Sir

The Letter your Excellency did me the honour of writing to me Yesterday,1 gives me the first Information of the Resolution mentioned as taken by the State
of Maryland relating to their Money in England. If there is no Mistake in the Intelligence,
(which I apprehend there may be) and such a Power as is supposed should come to my
Hands, I shall then take your Excellency's Recommendation, (which has great Weight
with me) into Consideration. At present I can only say that I shall not name my Nephew
Mr. Williams. For tho' I have a great Opinion of his Ability, and Integrity, and think
that by his early Declaration and Attachment to our Cause, and Activity in its Service,
he has a good deal of Merit with the States in general, I know of none that he has
with Maryland in particular; and as the other four are Natives of that State, I think
the Choice ought to be { 224 } from among them. Mr. Williams will however be very sensible of the Honour done him
by being put into the Nomination.

With the greatest Respect, I have the Honour to be Your Excellency's most obedt. and
most humble Servant.

To Edmund Jenings

If you think that any thing I sent you lately is improper for publication, I hope
you will stop it, or alter and correct it, by your own discretion, or delay it, till
you think the time, proper.

A vessell has arrived at Bilbao, from Newbury Port, by which I wrote to Congress and
to my friends from Corunna,1 she brings news that two Vessells which lay at Bilbao when I was there, have also
arrived. I wrote by these also. She sailed from Newbury Port 14 March, all quiet.
The English close shut up by our Army in N. York. Clintons fleet Scattered in a storm.
This is every Word, I can get. This lazy fellow must not have let it be known he was
coming, or I should have had Letters. I inclose you a Letter from Dr. F.2

Adieu,

RC with enclosure in John Thaxter's hand (Adams Papers); endorsed: “John Adams Esqr. Inclosing a copy of a Letter from B Franklin Esqr.
April 22 1780.”

From John Bondfield

[dateline] Nantes 22 April 1780

[salute] Sir

This day arrived from Baltimore a small Schooner which port she left the 15 March.

General Clinton with the remainder of the transports saved from the general despersion,
arrived at Savannah to the Number of 44 or 45 Ships.1 General Gates was sent to Command at Charles Town.2 No movements had been made since the Arrival of the Troops In Georgia, all the Enemys
Horse were thrown overboard. The American Frigates Boston Providence & Ranger were
at Charles Town, and they report every preparation were making to prevent the British
Troops { 225 } penetrating into Carolina, with respect I have the Honor to be Sir your very hhb.
Servt.

1. This is the first definite report JA received regarding the fate of Clinton's stormtossed southern invasion force. For
an account of the voyage and the early stages of the siege of Charleston, see Thomas
Digges' letter of 3 March, note 6 (above).

2. This report was supplied by Capt. W. Kindy of the schooner Dove from Baltimore (from Joshua Johnson, 22 April, below). Maj. Gen. Benjamin Lincoln was in command at Charleston until the surrender
of the city and his army on 12 May. Congress did not appoint Maj. Gen. Horatio Gates
commander of the southern department until 13 June and he did not take command in
the field until 25 July (Robert Middlekauf, The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution, 1763–1789, N.Y., 1982, p. 442–443, 448, 453; JCC, 17:508). For JA's use of the information regarding Gates, see Joshua Johnson's letter of 22 April,
note 1 (below).

Docno: ADMS-06-09-02-0121

Author: Carmichael, William

Recipient: Adams, John

Date: 1780-04-22

From William Carmichael

[dateline] Madrid 22d. April 1780

[salute] Sir

I received with much pleasure your obliging letter of the 8th. Instant and take the
earliest opportunity of thanking you for the information it contained. I should have
certainly commenced my correspondence with you earlier, had I thought Mr. Jay would
have been constrained by various circumstances to reside so long at Cadiz. Your Observations
with respect to the conduct which France and Spain ought to follow correspond with
the opinions of the Swedish and Dutch Ministers here both of whom I have an opportunity
of frequently seeing. The crisis seems near, when Others beside Britain may play the
Part of the Bully.

If the Patriots in Ireland are content with that which they have forced G. Britain
to grant them, I shall be much mistaken, and their conduct in that case will not correspond
with the history of Mankind. I resided three Months in that Kingdom in the year 1768
and am well acquainted with some of the men who now appear to take a lead in their
Affairs. Some of these will be for pushing things to the greatest Extremity and perhaps
would succeed, if they had liberality enough to tolerate a religion against which
they have the most violent animosity. A fleet of 12 sail of the Line besides frigates
and other armed Vessels with 11500 men and a fine train of Artillery will sail this
month from Cadiz, If it hath not already sailed, the troops embarked the 14th, I suppose
that from Brest sails about the same time.1

From these Armaments you may Judge whether your Ideas of carrying the war into the
American seas are not conformable to the Intentions of the Allies. We have the same
news from America which you announce to me. And our Papers are as late as the 10th
of March. { 226 } By several Captures taken from the Enemy it appears that Arbuthnots fleet must have
suffered severely and their dispersion must have been compleat for no news of their
arrival in any port was received at Newberry in Massachussets bay the 14th of March
altho they sailed the 26th of December from N. York. It appears that Congress meant
to leave Philadelphia the 1st of April, but to what place is not mentioned. I have
advice from Bourdeaux that several letters for me arrived in the Buckskin and were
sent on to Madrid. Unhappily I have not received them, which chagrins me not a little.
Mr. Jay and Family present their respects to you. Most of them have been unwell since
their arrival here. I beg you to make the proper Compliments for me to Mr. Dana and
to beleive me Your Obliged & Humble Sert.

1. Carmichael accurately describes Adm. Don Josef Solano's fleet, which sailed from Cádiz
on or about 2 May. After evading a British blocking force, Solano sailed to the West
Indies and joined with Guichen's fleet on 16 June. The combined fleet numbered 27
ships of the line to Rodney's 18, but in fact the naval balance was little changed
because the effectiveness of the disease ridden Spanish sailors was questionable at
best. Carmichael's second reference was to Ternay's convoy for Rochambeau's army,
which also sailed on 2 May (Mackesy, War for America, p. 328–329, 333; W. M. James, The British Navy in Adversity: A Study of the War of American Independence, London, 1926, p. 215–216).

Docno: ADMS-06-09-02-0122

Author: Jenings, Edmund

Recipient: Adams, John

Date: 1780-04-22

From Edmund Jenings

[dateline] Brussels April 22. 1780

[salute] Sir

I Hereby Acknowledge the Honor of receiving from your Excellency your Letters of the
15th, and at this Moment, of the 19th Instant; the Inclosure of the last shall be
taken due Care of. The perusal thereof gives me most pleasing Sensations. To some
perhaps it may be Ungrateful but they ought to see it. Others Consider themselves
highly honord thereby, and I wish they saw it: they may do it in a Translation.

You ask in your favor of 16th.1 my impartial Judgment of the Declaration of Russia. I think it proceeds from the
New School of Magnanimity, notwithstanding the Opinion of Lord Camden, who treats
it as a violation of the Law of Nations.2 I am sure it is the Law of Nature, which ought to dictate, what is the Law of Nations.
Never did I see a System of more public Utility, Justice, Right and Humanity laid
down. It is entirely Conformable to the public Acts, coming from the Throne of Russia,
which has lately astonishd the Admiring World. Permit me, Sir, to Suggest an Idea,
which occurs to me at this Juncture, of which I entreat your Consideration. We Know
the Back• { 227 } wardness of all powers to plunge themselves into War, it is a Wise and humane Spirit.
The Contrary is left only to the Malice, folly and desperateness of England. Suppose
that the Northern Powers confederatd and Compleatly armd, shoud before they go to
Extremities, to which they are not inclind, shoud insist on the belligerent Powers
on the given Day to subscribe to the Law of Nature, as laid down by the Empress or
Else expect a declaration of all, not to supply such refusing State with Naval Stores.
The Consequence thereof is evident. If you approve of this Idea, you will Carry it
further.

The paper sent to England3 has been insertd in almost all the Gazettes, likewise Care was taken that it shoud
appear in the foreign ones of which I Hope you approve. It has occasiond much Speculation
and some good Observations. I have some active Friends in England, who omit Nothing
in the Cause of Liberty and Mister Hartly receivd it, and I beleive gave Notice of
the Day of his intended Motion on it, which is put off on account of the Speakers
Illness—and Lord Albingden, his good friend, went immediately to Ld. Shelburn and
others to talk of it—but I mistake much if you have not already had some applications
to You, my information from England is otherwise Erroneous.

I thank you much for your obliging Disposition towards me, I know if any thing coud
do me Honor was in your power, I shoud have it. Other people may Act otherwise, but
I coud wish they Knew where I was, that they might not have an Excuse of Neglect.

Have you now, Sir, or have you had at Paris a General Lloyd, formerly in the <Russian> Austrian Service, I am told He is at Paris; He was there last Year, Care must be
taken of Him, He is a very bad Man and a pensioner of our Ennemy. Let Him be Watchd,
if He is there pray give Notice to the Minister that He may be attended to.4

2. For this speech by Charles Pratt, first earl of Camden and former Lord Chancellor,
in the House of Lords on 14 April, see JA's letter of 26 April to the president of Congress, and note 2 (No. 53, below).

3. The announcement of JA's mission contained in his letter of 2 April to Jenings (above).

From Joshua Johnson

[dateline] Nantes 22 April 1780

[salute] Sir

Inclosed I forward you five American Newspapers which I received last Evening by the
Dove Capt. W. Kindy, they will give you an Account of Clintons arrival in Georgia.
I have likewise to inform you that the Capt. and a passinger informs me Genl. Gates
was appointed to Command the Southern Army and that he was on his way to Join it.
The same Gent. add that Vessell from Martinique had Just arrived and brought an Account
that the Dean Captain Nicholson had sent in there an English Frigate Sheathed with
Coper and mounting twenty Eight Gunns she struck after a severe Action.1 Had I been a ceremonious man I should have waited on you before with my Congratulations
on your appointment. You will beleive me as an honest one that I am very happy my
Country has shown so much wisdom, and I am not without hopes that your endeavours
will extricate her out of her difficulties in which I wish you every Success and am
with my sincere and very best offers of service Sir, Your most Obedt. & most Humble
Servant

1. These reports concerning Horatio Gates and the frigate Deane were both false. For that concerning Gates, see John Bondfield's letter of 22 April,
note 2 (above). In regard to the Deane, no record of such a capture by the frigate in 1780 has been found. In any event,
JA included both reports in his letter of 25 April to Vergennes (Arch. Aff. Etr., Paris, Corr. Pol., E.-U., vol. 11).

Docno: ADMS-06-09-02-0124

Author: Adams, John

Recipient: Huntington, Samuel

Recipient: President of Congress

Date: 1780-04-23

This is a summary of a document and does not contain a transcription. If it is available
elsewhere in this digital edition, a page number link will be provided below in the
paragraph beginning "Printed."

To the President of Congress, No. 50

Although a note to the Letterbook copy of Adams'letter of 3 May to the president of Congress (No. 58, calendared, below) indicates that this letter
was sent and the Journal of Congress shows it to have been received on 19 Feb. 1781 (JCC, 19:175), no copy has been found in the PCC. With this letter John Adams enclosed newspapers from Britain, France, and elsewhere
concerning events in England, “where the old Monarchy seems to be tumbling about their
Heads.”

To the Comte de Sarsfield

I have both heard and read So exalted a character of the Eloquence and Integrity of
Monsieur Malesherbes, that I have a Strong Curiosity to become acquainted, with his
Writings.2 I am told there are Some { 229 } of his Speeches and remonstrances when he was first president of the court of Aids,
in print, and a discourse, pronounced at his Admission to the french Academy. I should
esteem it a favour, if you would let me know, at what Booksellers I can find them.3 I am also informed, that there are others of his Discourses, as premier president,
preserved in manuscript, but never printed. I wish to know if it is practicable to
obtain the reading of them. I have heard his Eloquence compared to that of Demosthenes
and his Justice to that of Aristides, and as it is rare, I think to find either of
those qualities in such degrees, in this age of the World, and rarer still to find
them both So remarkably united in any: you will pardon the trouble I give you, by
making this Inquiry, on Account of its motive. I am, with great respect, sir, your
most obedient servant

1. Guy Claude, Comte de Sarsfield, was a French officer of Irish ancestry and a would
be philosophe. He became JA's friend and correspondent in 1778 (vol. 6:85), and remained so through the Adamses' residence in London from 1785 to 1788. For
a detailed sketch of Sarsfield, see JA, Diary and Autobiography, 2: 381.

2. Chrétien-Guillaume de Lamoignon de Malesherbes, celebrated jurist, succeeded his father as
president of the cour des aides, a royal tax court, in 1750. Louis XV suspended the
court in 1771 and banished Malesherbes to his estate because of the jurist's famous
remonstrances on behalf of the prorogued parlements. Louis XVI revived the court and
upon his ascent to the throne in 1774, reinstated Malesherbes. The jurist's advocacy
of moderate constitutional reform led to his resignation from the court in 1775 and
from the post of minister of the royal household in 1776. Officially out of favor,
Malesherbes traveled extensively in Europe and avoided political entanglements until
the King recalled him to be minister of state in 1787. Confronted with a rising tide
of political radicalism hostile to the monarchy, Malesherbes resigned the following
year. The former jurist defended Louis XVI at the King's trial in 1792 and was himself
condemned as a royalist and guillotined in 1794 (Hoefer, Nouv. biog. générale).

This is a summary of a document and does not contain a transcription. If it is available
elsewhere in this digital edition, a page number link will be provided below in the
paragraph beginning "Printed."

To the President of Congress, No. 51

In this letter, received by Congress on 19 Feb. 1781, John Adams sent intelligence
derived from newspaper reports originating at Stockholm, Ratisbone (Regensburg, Germany),
Amsterdam, and The Hague. Included were reports on Russian demands for Swedish compliance
with the principles of the armed neutrality, Russian naval preparations in the Baltic
and White seas, the possibility of Estaing assuming command of a combined allied fleet,
Dutch naval developments, and the progress of efforts to form a “universal Code for
the Sea.” Finally, Adams provided an English translation of Hol• { 230 } land's memorial of 13 April to the States General regarding that body's reply to Prince
Gallitzin's memorial.

From Edmund Jenings

[dateline] Brussels April 24. 1780

[salute] Sir

I have receivd your Excellencys Letter of the 19th Instant, inclosing the Copy of
Another of the 15th Addressed to his Excellency Mr. Franklin.1 I feel in the most Sensible Manner, the Marks you give me of your Benevolence and
Trust. Nothing can be more flattering, and more Animating to me to persist in these
Sentiments and that Conduct, which have fortunately drawn your Notice on me. I entreat
your Excellency to rely on my Faithfulness and strict Adherence to privete and public
Honor.

I will make particular Enquiries after the Pamphlet, but as it was publishd 15 Years
Ago it will perhaps be difficult to find it. No Endeavours however will be spared;
I can trust my Friends Diligence which woud be much assistd, if your Excellency coud
inform me of the Name of the Bookseller, who published it.2

I send your Excellency the inclosd Newspaper. It Contains the debate on the Contractors
Bill in the House of Lords, which, being thrown out, is a strong Proof of the Absurdity
of endeavouring to reform and save the adjacent Island of Corruption. It Contains
too a Paragraph on a late publication, and the Sentiments and Motions of a Mr. Nichols
in a County meeting.3 That Gentleman has been long esteemd by me as a Friend, for He has ever been a Friend
to America.

The Astonishment is great in these Countries, to hear that England has annulld the
Dutch Treaties, Oh! that Mr. Laurens was in Holland at this Instance. What an Opportunity
has France to bind the States general to Her for Ever! A liberal Plan of Conduct would
do it, and Holland renderd thereby more subservient to Her in War and Peace, than
by the violence of Conquest and Actual Possession. Altho I am convincd, that the Moderation,
Respect and Submission, that the Duch have showed towards England has encouragd that
Infatuatd Country, in its arrogant and desperate Measures, Yet being scornd, as they
have been, cannot but condemn the one and satisfy the other in future proceedings
and imitate and Revolt the Spirit of Europe against the Aggressor.

1. The “9” and the “5” in the two dates given in this sentence are written over other
illegible numbers, but Jenings presumably means JA's letter of 19 April to Benjamin Franklin (above), for no letter of the 15th has been found. JA's only known letter of the 19th to Jenings, a cover for an enclosed account of JA's journey through Spain (above), makes no mention of enclosing JA's letter to Franklin.

2. For The True Sentiments of America, London, 1768, which contained “A Dissertation on the Canon and the Feudal Law” (p.
111–143), see JA's letter of 20 April to Jenings, and note 2 (above), and his reply to Jenings of 29 April, and note 1 (below).

3. The enclosed newspaper has not been found, but it was probably published on 15 April.
The contractors bill, which was finally defeated on 17 April, would have prohibited
any member of the House of Commons from being a party to a government contract unless
the contract was put up for public bid. It was debated in the House of Lords on the
14th and reported in the London Courant and other London papers of the 15th.

The “late publication” may have been the announcement of JA's mission (to Jenings, 2 April, and note 1, above). The London Courant of 15 April contained a paragraph which reported that Lord North, upon hearing of
JA's arrival in France to conclude a peace treaty, had expressed his wish that JA had come immediately to London, but that he had since learned that JA had neither confidence in him nor any desire to go to England, “having nothing at
all to propose to the Court of London; neither is he in a hurry for peace.” The author
of the article then stated that JA had come “with the most ample powers to treat upon, and finally to conclude (in conjunction with the Courts of France and Spain) upon a fair and honourable peace
with England, on terms of perfect equality, as independent sovereign powers; and his
Lordship may wait till he is much larger in the girth than he at present is, if he
waits till he recieves any kind of overture from Mr. Adams—The man won't come to the
mountain.”

Finally, the London Courant of the 15th also contained an account of a meeting “of the Freeholders of the County
of Surry” at Epsom on 14 April at which John Nicholls, later a member of Parliament,
spoke against the war in America and offered two resolutions. The first declared that
the war in America stemmed “from the corrupt influence of the Crown, and the illfounded
assertions of the Kings Ministers in Parliament” and was responsible for the “calamitous
situation of the country,” while the second denounced further offensive operations
in America. JA quoted from the portion of the article containing the resolutions in his letter of
29 April to the president of Congress (No. 55, calendared below).

Docno: ADMS-06-09-02-0128

Author: Adams, John

Recipient: Bondfield, John

Date: 1780-04-25

To John Bondfield

[dateline] Paris Hotel de Valois Ruë de Richelieu April 25th. 1780

[salute] Sir

I am very much obliged by your kind Attention, in your Letter of 22d. April.

Clinton has then arrived at Georgia, where he is destined to be as well watched and
guarded and finally as compleatly ruined as Burgoyne was at Saratoga or Preston at
Rhode Island,1 and that favorite Child of Fortune Gates is to have the Glory of it all. I am quite
easy since I know, he commands. There is an Affection for him and a Confidence in
him, a kind of devotion to him, in the Mind of the American Soldier, that makes him
infallible. I have also recieved your Letter concerning my Wine—the one you inclosed
to Mr. L never reached me.2

2. Of 12 April (above). See that letter also for Bondfield's letter of 2 March, sent by way of Arthur
Lee.

Docno: ADMS-06-09-02-0129

Author: Adams, John

Recipient: Johnson, Joshua

Date: 1780-04-25

To Joshua Johnson

[dateline] Paris Hotel de Valois Ruë de Richelieu April 25. 1780

[salute] Sir

I have this Moment, your Favour of 22. of April, inclosing, five American Newspapers.
I cannot express in two Strong terms, my Thanks for this instance of your Attention
and Kindness, and if upon future Occasions, you will shew me, the same Goodness, you
will very much oblige me. You have, many Vessells arrive consigned to you, and your
Correspondences in America, are with Persons of such Consideration and Authority,
that you will frequently have Intelligence of the best Kind and from the highest Sources.
I cannot but wish that Congress would avail themselves to this Channell, to convey
sometimes their Commands to their servant abroad.

I have great Consolation in the appointment of General Gates to the Command of the
southern Army. The Affection and Confidence of the Soldier in their General, never
fail to have great Effects, these have appeared, more than once, in Gates's favour,
and I am persuaded will another time. I hope Charlestown will be saved, but if unhappily
it should not, it will be soon regained.

A small Vessell, by which I wrote to America from Corunna, has been there, and returned
to Bilbao from Newbury port, which she left 14 March. Two large Letters of Mark, which
lay at Bilbao when I was there, by which I also wrote have arrived. English close
shut up in N. York by Gen. Washington, Clintons fleet dispersed in a storm—no other
News—not a Letter. He must have conceald his designd Voyage.1

The wise and prudent Negotiations among the neutral maritime { 233 } Powers, which will prevent the flames of War from Spreading farther, the Proceedings
in Ireland and in England together with the Operations of the Armaments from Brest,
and Cadiz, wherever they are destined, afford Us a Prospect, of tolerable Tranquility
to our Country, how long soever the War may continue.

If you can inform me, when the Dove or any other Vessell intends to sail for America
from Nantes I shall be glad to send a Letter.

I thank you, sir, for your polite Congratulations, on my late Appointment. Happy,
indeed shall I be if any Endeavours of mine, should contribute to extricate our Country
out of her difficulties. Every American, may do somewhat; and few on this side the
Water have more oppertunities than you, which renders your obliging offers of service,
very precious to me.

As I Am determined to spare no expence to obtain Intelligence, if you will write for
the Printer of the Baltimore Paper to send them me, regularly, and will undertake
to pay for it, I will thankfully repay you.

Please to present my Respects to Mrs. Johnson and the little family, and believe me,
with much esteem, your most obedient and humble sert.

1. This paragraph as well as the fifth and seventh paragraphs were interlined.

Docno: ADMS-06-09-02-0130

Author: Adams, John

Recipient: Huntington, Samuel

Recipient: President of Congress

Date: 1780-04-25

This is a summary of a document and does not contain a transcription. If it is available
elsewhere in this digital edition, a page number link will be provided below in the
paragraph beginning "Printed."

To the President of Congress, No. 52

In this letter, received by Congress on 19 Feb. 1781, John Adams included long newspaper
accounts from Dublin of events in Ireland, particularly the progress of the volunteer
movement, and from London of the efforts of the British ministry to bring about a
resolution of the Irish problem.

From William Lee

[dateline] Bruxelles Apl. 25. 1780

[salute] Dear Sir

I thank you for the intelligence contain'd in your favor of the 13th. and when there
are any other arrivals from America you will greatly oblige me by communicating any
intelligence they may bring. I confess I am uneasy to hear from Chas. Town, for there
is no doubt of Clinton having design'd his principle Force against that Town; as I
cannot give any credit to the surmises of some people, that the rendevouze was at
Tybee, in order to be ready for an attack on some of the Spanish possessions.

The infatuation of our Enemies is evidently the work of Providence therefore I have
no expectation of a speedy Peace because the measure of their punishment is not yet
full.

Their frenzy is turn'd into raving madness, as you will see by the proclamation against
the Dutch,1 which is tantamount to a declaration of War, and the insulting language used against
the Russians in the Ministerial papers; therefore as you say, we need not be surprised
if they were to declare War against the whole World. This would be a favorable minute
for Mr. Laurens, if he was in Holland, where no doubt his prudence will direct him
to examine well his ground before he moves, for he may meet with, Characters both
inimical and selfish, who under the garb of Patriotic and friendly zeal, may endeavor
to lead him into error. The Dutch who are so jealous of any other nation but themselves,
catching a Hering in the open Sea, think it not unreasonable or immodest to expect
exclusive privileges in some part of the American trade and an equal freedom with
others, to the fishery on the banks of Newfoundland.

By the last accounts from England Walsingham was not sail'd So that the fleet from
Brest may get the start, if it has kept to the time appointed viz the 15th. of this
month.

If you can prevail where you are to have a good look out kept to intercept the first
West India fleet, which probably will be coming into the channel in June or July,
I think our Enemies cannot have this year for channel service more than 30 Ships of
the Line at the utmost for want of Men.2

Pray tell me if you heard before you left America, of my answer to Mr. Deanes charges
having been read in Congress.3 That Gentlemans Agent and Correspondent in Holland,4 it is said, has reported there, that he is again in Congress, but I do not hear of
any letters from America that mention such a circumstance.

1. This was the Order in Council of 17 April, which formally suspended the provisions
of existing Anglo-Dutch treaties relating to Dutch trade in time of war and placed
subjects of the Netherlands under the same restrictions as the subjects of other neutral
nations with whom Great Britain had no treaties. The order was printed in various
London newspapers on or about 19 April, including the London Courant and the Morning Post.

2. In fact, this estimate was too high. When Adm. Francis Geary took command of the channel
fleet in May, he had but 24 ships of the line, placing him at a serious disadvantage
in the event he met with a combined Franco-Spanish fleet. The number of ships committed
to the channel fleet did not significantly increase in 1781 or 1782, although the
balance became less lopsided in favor of France and Spain as the focus of naval activities
changed to American and East Indian waters (Mackesy, War for America, p. 356; Dull, { 235 } French Navy and Amer. Independence, p. 365–376).

3. This was Lee's 36-page rebuttal to Silas Deane's address of 5 Dec. 1778 “To the Free
and Virtuous Citizens of the United States.” Lee's response was dated 8 March 1779
and was sent under a covering letter of 17 March to the president of Congress. The
two documents were received on 11 Oct. 1779 (PCC, No. 90, f. 472–507; No. 105, f. 107–110; JCC, 15:1161–1162).

4. The source of this false report was probably C. W. F. Dumas, with whom Deane had corresponded
between 1776 and 1778 (Deane Papers, 3:149–150). See also Lee's letter of 10 May and JA's reply of 6 June (both below).

Docno: ADMS-06-09-02-0132

Author: Adams, John

Recipient: Jenings, Edmund

Date: 1780-04-26

To Edmund Jenings

[dateline] Paris April 26th. 1780

[salute] Dear Sir

Your's of the 22d have just recieved. I wrote You a Line the 22d. Am happy to find
that We agree so well in Opinion concerning the Equity of the Russian Negotiation.
If that Court had gone farther, and endeavoured to abolish the whole doctrine of Contraband,
excepting in Case of Siege, I should have thought it a beneficial Improvement in the
Law of Nations. I can't see, that because two Nations have quarrelled, this should
give them a right to meddle at all with the Vessels of Neutrals—neither of the contending
Nations gain any Advantage by it, because both have an equal right to make use of
Neutral Ships, and the stopping and searching of neutral Ships is a real damage and
injury, and only tends to embarrass the Intercourse among Mankind, to multiply disputes,
and provoke Neutral Nations to join one or other of the belligerent Powers. But this
might have been too large a Stride to have taken at once.

This doctrine of free Ships making free Goods, is an old Object with the Dutch. They
have aimed at it above an hundred Years, and but for England would have carried it
in De Witts Time.1 When I was employed in draughting the Original Treaty, which was sent by Congress
to be proposed to the Court of France, I spent a good deal of time, in searching the
Books upon this Subject. I found a small Collection of marine Treaties, in the preface
to which some Account is given of this Disenssion between the Dutch and English, but
I found a much clearer and more ample Relation of it, in the preface of a Work in
two Octavo Volumes, called I think, the Law of the Admiralty, which Mr. E. Rutledge
borrowed for me of C. Justice Chew.2 I wish I could find this Book again, which I have not seen this four Years. I spoke
to a Bookseller here six Weeks ago to write for it, but I hear nothing of it. The
Sum of the Argument, as it appears to me, has been this—the Dutch are our Rivals in
Trade—their common System is Neutrality—if we agree that free Ships make free Goods,
they will run away with all the carrying Business—France and { 236 } Spain are our natural Enemies—if We suffer Neutral Ships to carry them naval Stores,
France and Spain will be able to dispute with Us the Empire of the Sea—the Situation
of our Island gives us an opportunity to intercept their Supplies, and it is necessary
in order to maintain our Superiority that we should embrace it. This is the Reasoning
of the English, and while France and Spain were odious in Europe, other Nations did
not choose to decide against them: but since the Ballance of Odium has shifted, and
France is pursuing a System, that all the World sees is for the public Good, and England
is acting a part, which all Nations dread and abhor, they all seem to be convinced
of the Rectitude of the Dutch Doctrine, and ready to decide in its favour.

I am much pleased with your Idea of obliging the belligerent Powers to subscribe to
the Empress's Doctrine, and I have no doubt it will be readily done by France and
Spain—the doctrine is already settled in the Treaty between France and the United
States. England will not be willing to subscribe it, tho' She must conform to it in
practice.

I thank You for all favors. As to your Information from England, I can only say, that
whenever or wherever any Application shall be made to me, I shall think myself bound
to inpenetrable Secresy towards all, but my Sovereign, and its Ally. A Bird in the
hand is worth two in the Bush. Our Alliance with the House of Bourbon is a Measure
that I have ever had extreamly at Heart: it ever appeared to me a natural and necessary
Alliance, and I would continue the War against Great Britain an hundred Years before
I would give it up. Great Britain will be our natural Enemy for the future. We shall
be her Rival in Fisheries, in Carriage, in Commerce of various Sorts, nay dont think
me extravagant or enthusiastic when I say, in Naval Power. She will be eternally wishing
and endeavouring to destroy our Commerce and our Navy, as She is that of France and
Spain. Let Us cultivate then, the Connection with these Powers, as a Rock of defence.
I shall therefore communicate to this Court whatever Proposition may ever be made
to me. It is most certain I have no Propositions to make, until Conferences shall
be opened, if ever that should be. I am very far from being over anxious about this.
I know we are marching on in a sure and certain Mode. <My> Our Country can sustain this War for thirty Years to come, better than France, Spain
or England can, especially the latter, or for any other given Number of Years, more
or less. It is in vain to reason. The politicians of Europe are incapable of concieving
our Situation, and the great Causes now { 237 } at work must be allowed Time to produce their Effects. So far from expecting any serious,
sensible proposals for Peace, I think the Parties in England will go to War with each
other, and they must fight their Battle out, before we shall know, which has the national
Power in its Hands to make peace with Us. They have a point to settle first, whether
we shall make Peace with a British King or a British Congress.

I assure You, the picture of the British Nation at present gives me no pleasure—it
is a melancholy Sight to me. It would give me as much Joy as my Nature is capable
of, if She would come to her Senses, and act a just and reasonable part: but I know
it is impossible. Mens minds are not suddenly changed—they will go on, and for ought
I can see, will have a Civil War. The least Accident may put all in a blaze—a drunken
Mob may provoke a Soldier to fire, and set the Nation all in Arms.

Clinton has arrived in Georgia with forty four Ships escaped from the Storm. The News
of this will raise a flash in England, like throwing Oil on Fire: but Gates is to
command against him, and Gates is a Master of his Trade, has the Confidence and Affection
of the Soldier and the Citizen, and will give as good an Account of him, as he did
of Burgoyne and Prescot.3 I communicate my Sentiments to You on these points in Secresy and Confidence—if you
think any of them wrong, tell me. You must be sensible that is improper for me to
make a Talk about these Things.

Adieu.

RC in John Thaxter's hand (Adams Papers); endorsed: “Mr A April 26. 1780.”

1. That is, during the rule of John De Witt, the grand pensionary from 1665 to 1672.
In fact, following De Witt's death, the Dutch gained British acceptance of the doctrine
of free ships make free goods in the Anglo-Dutch treaty of 1674 and its Explanatory
Convention of 1675. That, however, was the very treaty that Britain suspended in 1780
in so far as its provisions relating to neutral trade were concerned. For a discussion
of the treaty and convention of 1674 and 1675, see C. W. F. Dumas to the Commissioners,
13 Sept. 1778, note 5 (vol. 7:34–35).

2. The “small Collection” was probably Henry Edmunds and William Harris, comps., A Compleat Collection of All the Articles and Clauses which Relate to the Marine,
in the Several Treaties Now Subsisting Between Great Britain, and Other Kingdoms and
States . . ., London, 1760. The two-volume work on “the Law of the Admiralty,” borrowed from Benjamin
Chew, chief justice of Pennsylvania from 1774 to 1776 (DAB), has not been identified. For the Treaty Plan of 1776 and works that JA used to draft it, see vol. 4:260–278.

To the President of Congress, No. 53

[dateline] Paris April 26th. 1780

[salute] Sir

At last, even the Morning Post, of the eighteenth of April, confesses, that1 the Memorial from the Empress of Russia to the States General, has dissipated all
their golden dreams of an Alliance, with the Czarina. It was announced to us last
Week, that a Russian Squadron had left Cronstad, with an Intention to sail to our
Assistance, nay some of the public Papers went so far as to announce their Arrival
at Plymouth, how sadly are we, now disappointed! instead of Alliance, we find her
Czarish Majesty talks of Neutrality. So that at present it is pretty clear, that the
various powers in Europe seem determined to stand off, and leave us to our fate.

In some confused Minutes of a debate in the House of Lords on the fourteenth of April,
it is said that Lord Cambden expressed2 his Astonishment and regret at the Memorial from Russia, in which, contrary to the
established Laws of Nations, the Empress insisted upon free Ships and free Goods:
he pointed out, how injurious to the Country it must be, if neutral Vessels were permitted
to supply our Enemies, whom we might blockade, with every thing they might want, and
remarked, the Queen of the Seas was now deposed, and the Empress had taken possession
of her Throne. In another Paper Lord Shelburne3 is represented remarking the very dangerous and alarming Situation they stand in
with regard to their Wars and foreign Alliances: of the former, said his Lordship
we have three, of the latter none; even the Empress of Russia, that great Potentate,
who was constantly held out by the noble Lord in the green Ribbon, Lord Stormont4 to be our principal Ally, now shows to all Europe, by her late maritime Manifesto,
what sort of an Ally She meant to be to England. The thought of that Manifesto made
him shudder, when he first read it, particularly as he knew how this Country stood,
in respect to other Powers, when Denmark must follow wherever Russia led, and when
Sweeden was nearly at the Nod of France. Think of the probability of having the whole
force of the Northern Powers against Us, already engaged in three Wars, and striving
all we can to make a fourth with our old Friends and natural Allies, the States General.

There have appeared, few other Reflections, as yet, upon this great Event, the Russian
declaration. Even Opposition seem afraid to lay it open, in all its Terms to the people.
They repeat the Word Neutral• { 239 } ity, Neutrality, but it is very [nearly]5 as decisive a determination against them, as a declaration of War would have been,
perhaps more so, because now there is a probability that the maritime Powers will
be unanimous, whereas in the other Case they might have been divided. It is very surprising
that the Peace between Russia and the Turk, and that between the Emperor and the King
of Prussia, in which the Empress of Russia took a part as decided and spirited, as
She has upon this Occasion, in both of which Negotiations the British Ministry ought
to have known that Russia and France, acted in perfect Concert,6 should not have earlier dissipated their golden Visions: but so it is: and so it
has been. England, as Governor Pownal says, cannot or will not see.7

The Improvement in the Law of Nations which the Empress aims at, and will undoubtedly
establish, is hurtful to England, it is true, to a very great degree: but it is beneficial
to all other Nations, and to none more than the United States of America, who will
be Carriers, and I hope forever Neuters.

I have the Honor to be, with the greatest Respect & Esteem, Sir, your most obedient
and most humble Servant,

1. Except for minor changes, the remainder of this paragraph is an exact quotation from
the Morning Post of 18 April. As late as 12 April, the day after it had printed the text of the Russian
memorial to the States General, the Morning Post reported “it is confidently said, that a treaty of alliance offensive and defensive
is at last actually signed with Russia” and would “be announced to parliament soon
after the recess.” On the 14th it declared that “the Russian declaration at the Hague
has had the desired effect; the Dutch now finding how much the Czarina interests herself
in favour of Great Britain, begin seriously to think of returning such an answer to
Sir Joseph Yorke's memorial as may at least not irritate the Court of London to set
them on a footing with other neutral powers.”

2. The remainder of this sentence is an exact quotation from the Morning Post of 15 April. In another account of the speech by Charles Pratt, 1st earl of Camden
and former Lord Chancellor, that is much longer and quite different, he is reported
to have stated that the Russian declaration “was totally subversive of the first principle
of the law of nations, which had never went so far as to say that neutral bottoms
protected the goods and effects of an enemy” (Parliamentary Hist., 21:446).

3. The newspaper from which this report of Lord Shelburne's speech in the House of Lords
on 14 April was taken has not been identified. For a much fuller account of the speech,
see Parliamentary Hist., 21:426–428.

4. David Murray, 7th viscount Stormont, was secretary of state for the southern department
and responsible for European affairs. The “green Ribbon” signified his membership
in the Order of the Thistle (DNB).

6. JA is referring to the Russo-Turkish Convention of Ainalikawak signed in 1779 which
clarified their 1774 Treaty of Kutschuk-Kainardji and to the Peace of Teschen which
brought an end to the War for the Bavarian Succession between Prussia and Austria.
In the first instance the French ambassador to the Ottoman Empire had assisted in
the negotiations and in the second, France had been as eager as Russia to end the
war (De Madariaga, Armed Neutrality of 1780, p. 98–99).

7. A reference to Pownall's A Memorial Most Humbly Addressed to the Sovereigns of Europe. See A Translation of Thomas Pownall's Memorial, 19 April – [ca. 14 July] (above).

Docno: ADMS-06-09-02-0134

Author: Jay, John

Recipient: Adams, John

Date: 1780-04-26

From John Jay

[dateline] Madrid 26 April 1780

[salute] Dear Sir

I have at Length had the Pleasure of recieving your very friendly Letter of the 22d.
Feby. last. It has been very long on the Road. Accept my Thanks for your kind Congratulations;
and permit me to assure you that I sincerely rejoice in your having safely reached
the Place of your Destination on a Business which declares the Confidence of America,
and for an Object, in the Attainment of which, I am persuaded you will acquire Honor
to yourself and Advantage to her.

The Circumstances you mention as Indications of the Disposition of Spain undoubtedly
bear the Construction you give them. As the Count de Florida Blanca is I am told a
man of Abilities, he doubtless will see and probably recommend the Policy of making
a deep Impression on the Hearts of the Americans by a seasonable Acknowledgement of
their Independence, and by affording such immediate Aids as their Circumstances and
the obvious Interest of Spain demand. Such Measures, at this Period would turn the
Respect of America for Spain, into lasting Attachment and in that Way give Strength
to every Treaty they may form.

Sir John Dalrymple is here.1 He came from Portugal for the Benefit of his Ladys Health (as is said). He is now
at Aranjues.2 He has seen the imperial Embassador, the Govr. of the City, Segnr. Campomaner, the
Duke of Alva and several others, named to him I suppose by Lord Grantham3 who I find was much respected here. He will return thro France to Britain. I shall
go to Aranjues the Day after tomorrow and shall form some Judgment of his Success
by the Conduct of the Court towards America.

I am much obliged by your Remarks on the most proper Route for Letters and Intelligence
to and from America and shall profit by them. You may rely on recieving the earliest
Accounts and whatever interesting Information I may obtain, and that I shall be happy
in every opportunity of evincing the Esteem with which I am Dear Sir Your most obedient
Servant

1. Sir John Dalrymple, author of numerous legal, historical, economic, and scientific
works, had no previous diplomatic experience and it is likely that his efforts in
Spain had no { 241 } official sanction. Dalrymple's memorial to Conde de Floridablanca, in which he emphasized
his close ties to the North ministry, proposed a joint guarantee of colonial possessions
by Great Britain, France, Portugal, and Spain. The thirteen American colonies would
remain in British hands, but with perhaps some modification in their government. Dalrymple
apparently also offered to exchange Gibraltar for the Canary Islands. Floridablanca,
who provided both Jay and the French ambassador with copies of the memorial, never
seriously considered Dalrymple's proposals, but the existence of any negotiations
was enough to make Vergennes suspicious of his Spanish ally (DNB; Wharton, ed., Dipl. Corr. Amer. Rev., 3:726–731; Morris, Peacemakers, p. 56, 60).

2. Aranjuez, the Spanish royal summer residence thirty miles south of Madrid.

3. Thomas Robinson, 2d baron Grantham, had been the British ambassador to Spain from
1771 to the outbreak of war in 1779 (DNB).

Docno: ADMS-06-09-02-0135

Author: Carmichael, William

Recipient: Adams, John

Date: 1780-04-26

From William Carmichael

I did myself the honor of writing to you last Post in answer to yours of the 8th of
April, at that time I had suspicions that a Sir John Dalrymple who has now been here
near three weeks, was imployed by G. Britain to sound the Disposition of this Court
and in the mean time to work under Ground for the interests of his own Country. I
have been hitherto able to trace most of his motions, which are somewhat suspicious.
He came hither from Lisbon under pretence or really on account of his Ladys bad State
of health: He had a Passport from the Ministry here for that purpose as I have been
informed from those who are personally imployed about him. He hath visited several
of the Principal Grandees and all those who were most connected with Ld. Grantham.
He hath been at Aranjuez, where the Royal family is at present, hath seen the French
Embassador and as I have been told will soon set out for France. This last circumstance
occasions me to give you the present Trouble. Altho I ought to have no other apprehension
of his residence here or at Paris at this Crisis unless it be the singularity of the
Circumstance, for I know he had at one time the Confidence of his King and at least
that of part of the Administration. I have never heard that he hath done any thing
to forfeit it. If he is imployed in the way I suspect He may be induced to pay you
a visit if he passes thro Paris, which altho it may be unnecessary, induces me to
put you on your Guard. I shall endeavor to inform you punctually of his rout and shall
be always happy on every occasion of testifying to you and Mr. Dana how much I am
Your humble Sert.

1. This place and date are derived from John Jay's letter of 26 April (above), which also provided an account of Sir John Dalrymple. Since JA answered the letters from Carmichael { 242 } and Jay on 12 and 13 May respectively, it seems likely that both were written at about the same time.

Docno: ADMS-06-09-02-0136

Author: Adams, John

Recipient: Gerry, Elbridge

Date: 1780-04-28

To Elbridge Gerry

[dateline] 28th. April 1780

[salute] My dear Friend

Since my Arrival in Europe I have had Reason to be very well Satisfied with my Reception,
hitherto, in Spain, in France, and especially among the Americans in Europe. I have
received Letters, from various Quarters of warm Congratulations and full of Professions,
of Respect and offers of service. Such Letters I have had from Mr. Bondfield at Bordeaux,
Mr. Williams and Mr. Johnson, and Mr. Livingston at Nantes, and from Mr. Jennings
and Mr. W. Lee at Brussells.

I am much obliged to Mr. Johnson, for his kind Letter,1 and for good Intelligence. He has many Vessells, which arrive in Nantes to his Consignment
from Baltimore: I wish that Congress, and Members of Congress, would sometimes send
Letters and Newspapers to me that way: as also by another Way, I mean from Boston
and Newbury Port, by the Way of Spain, Bilbao or Cadiz for Example, in this Case they
should be directed to the Care of some particular Gentleman in those Cities, that
he may inclose them, to avoid the enormous Expence of Postage, from America. The postage
of large Packetts this Way would be terrible: but single Letters, containing, Articles
and Paragraphs cut out from the Newspapers, will have a better Chance of coming soon
this Way than any other. I give to Congress such tedious Histories of public affairs
that I need not repeat, any of them to you, in my private Letters.

My Mission has been announced with so much Pomp, and there have been so many Speculations
about me, that I expected, before this Time, the Gall of the Tories and Refugees,
would attacked me, in the English Newspapers. I expected that Parson Bates and Parson
Vardel would have been employed, to bespatter me, with their Dirt and Lyes: but You
know very well that I am acquainted with these Gentlemen, and perhaps they may think
that I am as able to tell a Truth, as well as their Parsons can tell lies.2 And I am persuaded they dread my Truths, more than I do their Lies. Hitherto however
they have had the Philosophy, and magnanimity, to treat me with the Contempt I deserve.

If there should be any Representations to you, or in America, concerning me, let me
beg you to acquaint me with it, by the surest { 243 } Channells and by several Ways. I have no reasons to Suspect any one in particular,
but after, the Scraps, which were laid before the Committee of 13, I should not be
surprised, if others should go.3 There is more Guise in Europe, than in America—the bad Passions are stronger, here,
by habit, and necessity arising from their Luxury and Intrigues but they are more
concealed. One sees the Reasons of the divine Precepts against Hipocrisy more clearly
here than there.

There is an American here, of great Learning and Ingenuity, close Application, great
Candour and good Judgment, who has been, more than any other, forward in testifying
his Affection to me, and his Zeal for the service of his Country. It is Counciller
Edmund Jennings a native of Maryland. He lives now at Bruxells. I could wish that
his Character was more known in America. I suppose however, that Congress will for
the future bestow their Commissions of Importance upon, Persons of whom they have
had more Experience. I hope this will generally be the Case, for our greatest misfortunes
abroad have arisen from employing Persons who were not known to Congress nor to America,
who did not know, at least very lately America, and in whom America had not Sufficient
Grounds of Confidence, and who had not sufficient Grounds of Confidence in America.
It is a severe Misfortune that the Laurens's are not arrived, nor that I can learn
likely to arrive. If they dont come, pray send somebody else.

2. Rev. Henry Bate (later Sir Henry Bate Dudley) was the editor of the pro-ministry Morning Post (DNB). For Rev. John Vardill, formerly a professor at King's (Columbia) College and from
1775 to 1781 a British spy, see vol. 3:55–56.

3. For Congress' “Committee of Thirteen” and its consideration of charges against American
diplomats in Europe, including one by Ralph Izard against JA, see James Lovell's letters of 13 June and 14 Sept. 1779 (vol. 8:86–91, 147–152, and index).

Docno: ADMS-06-09-02-0137

Author: Adams, John

Recipient: Huntington, Samuel

Recipient: President of Congress

Date: 1780-04-28

This is a summary of a document and does not contain a transcription. If it is available
elsewhere in this digital edition, a page number link will be provided below in the
paragraph beginning "Printed."

To the President of Congress, No. 54

In Wharton's printing, the dates for the paragraphs beginning “Hague 23. April” and
“Hague 22 April” should be reversed. This long letter, which Congress received on
19 Feb. 1781, was based on newspaper accounts from Hamburg, London, and The Hague.
Adams first reported the communication of Russia's declaration of an armed neutrality
to the cities of Hamburg, Lübeck, and Bremen. The bulk of the letter consists of the
texts of the British Order in Council of 17 April suspending its treaties with the
Netherlands (from William Lee, 25 April, { 244 } and note 1, above); two reports by the Dutch province of Groningen, the first calling for convoys
for all non-contraband goods and the second recommending that the States General refuse
the assistance demanded by Britain under the terms of the Anglo-Dutch treaty of 1674;
and the resolution of 13 April by the States of Holland calling for the acceptance
of the Russian invitation to join a League of Armed Neutrality. Adams also noted the
decision of the Dutch province of Gelderland to call for unlimited convoys and the
refusal of the aid demanded by Britain.

Reflecting on these and other events, John Adams predicted the likelihood of Britain
becoming involved in a war with the Netherlands, Russia, and the other neutral powers,
and observed: “When, where or in what manner, we shall see the Unravelling of the
Vast Plot, that is acting in the World, is known only to Providence. Although my Mind
has been full twenty Years preparing to expect great Scenes, yet I confess the Wonders
of this Revelation exceed all that I ever foresaw or imagined. That our Country so
young as it is, so humble as it is, thinking but lately, so meanly of itself should
thus Interest the Passions, as well as employ the Reason of all Mankind in its favour,
and effect in so short a Space of Time, not only thirteen Revolutions of Government
at home, but so compleatly accomplish a Revolution in the system of Europe, and in
the Sentiments of every Nation in it, is what no human Wisdom perhaps could foresee.”

From Thomas Digges

[dateline] Dulwitch 28 Apr. 1780

[salute] Dr. Sir

I attend to what you mention by Capt. C.1 the 15th. Instant, and have in consequence, some days ago shippd for Ostend, in a
box marked A, with a card direction to Monsr. Frs. Bowens Merchant there, sundry pamphlets and papers as you require;2 and have written to Mr. B to forward it on in the manner He may think safest, and
to hereafter attend to any other parcels I may send in the same way. It may be better
you write to Him and point out the mode of conveyance from Ostend to Paris which you
may think best. This will be by much the best way for Books or Pamphlets when private
opportunitys (which are very rare) do not offer; but it will not do so well for News
papers as the ordering them immidiately yourself from the Post Masters at Paris, who,
having an understanding with the Post Office here, can get any papers by post which
you may want. The morning Papers you mention, and the one I have lately sent, will
be sufficient, and those of the Evening, two will answer your purpose; they come out alternate. The London Evening Post, and the
London Packet. I could get a friend who is concernd in the neutral Vessels and who
lives near the tower, to send you a packet of these papers of every 8 { 245 } or 10 days, as the vessels may sail, directed as the Box is to Mr. Bowens, if you
think this a better mode; at any rate I will do it (in order that you may be supplyd
with the Papers) until I get your answer to this letter, or the fixing on any other
mode. I will continue to You the Courant, because it shews every movement of the People
here relative to Petitions assosiations the proceedings of the Deputies &c. &c. For
this reason I sent you a bound parcell compleat from the 25 Novr. to the 18 Apr. and
a few loose ones to the 26th which I had done up for the purpose of sending to a more
distant quarter. I will make up another parcell of Pamphlets in a few days and forward
them as the last were sent.3 I am obligd to You for the Pamphlet by Dr. L,4 when it comes to your hands revisd and as the Establishd Law, I pray You send it to me together with any papers that
are worth publishing here, if the parcell is too heavy for post, send them to Mr.
Bowens who will forward them by neutral vessels to the person near the Tower who will
send You the papers and shipps most of my packages. By such a channell as this, (which
I have long been wishing for) many useful publications may come to light. I will keep
an account open for the Expence of so doing, and will apply to M. Louis Tessier (whom
I have applyd to on former occasions) for my riembursement; better that Monsr. G——d
should write a line to Him, for me to deliver, to pay me these sums as they are calld
for. You will have annexd a list of what I have already sent you.5

We have at length got news of Gen. Clinton, which came by a packet from N York which
saild from thence the 30th. March.6 It appears (tho there are no official dispatches from Clinton Himself) that the fleet
after being much buffetted about by the Storm and with the loss of four or five transports,
got to Tybee about the begining of Feby. and that the body of the fleet got to the
Bars of Chs. Town the 9 or 10th. March, and were nearly landed the 12th. when the
Russell man of War saild from thence to N York with the account. It appears they have
occupied some posts 8 or 10 miles from Cs. Town particularly that of Stono ferry,
but have neither attackd James fort nor fort Sullivan. By the Ministerial reports
we are informd Lincolns army was between 5 and 6,000 Men well posted out of the Town, and that some strong works had been thrown up on the neck and to defend
the Town. The Army of Clinton when it saild consisted of 7,500 Men and he took a Regiment
with him from Georgia; every account says He will not have more than 5,500 men effectives to opperate with, and I think from the feeble flat manner the whole storey is told
in the New York papers and from the accounts I have gatherd since the { 246 } packets arrival that his force is not equal to the possessing Chas. Town. He has but
one ship of the line and 4 or 5 lesser men of war to act against the Forts and Town;
there are 5 or 6 American and french frigates within the harbour, and if Fort Sullivan
is as strong as it was in 1776, I think with the united Naval Force it will be able
to give the British Ships of war a second drubbing. It cannot be many days before
we have accounts here of the decided fate of the place. There are many particulars
in the news papers, which you will have as soon as this, but the above is the substance
of what I hear.

The late Russian Memorial for Neutrality is not at all relishd by the Ministerealists
here, 'tho they attempt to palliate it by saying it is only a manoeuvere of that Court
for arming their Ships, which when armd, are to join England, this is too bad to be
related, but such is the conversation of some who are determind to go on blindfolded
to distruction. It appears that Holland has acceeded to the wish of Russia in the
substance of that memorial for neutrality and they are seemingly determind to defend
their Ships at Sea against English Cruisers. If some better understanding does not
soon take place between this Court and the States, it is more than probable there
will soon be a dutch war. How the northern powers of Sweeden and Denmark Stand, you
are better informd than I can be. Portugal most likely will acceed to it, for they
seem bent upon neutrality If such a disirable state will be allowd them.

The Parliament of Ireland on the two late great national questions, has produced a
majority of 39 in favour of the Court, tho directly contrary to the wishes of a great
majority of the People.7 The Commons have been touchd with English Gold or English paper, and have provd themselves
as corrupt as another parliament nearer me. It is most likely the disputes will not
stop there but that the People will right themselves.

Every body hereabouts seems sick of the American War, but how to get rid of it is
the question. The State of that war will be probably canvassd next Tuesday, when Gen.
Conway is to make a motion relative to accomodation with America.8 Much secrecy is observd as to the substance of his intended motion, but some folks
think He will move for some profers to be made to America on the preliminary of a
truce; but then the sending this profer over to America puts at so remote a period
in point of time, as to make some friends speak discourageingly of the proposition
or motion. Most likely some Members of that House such as Gen. C——y and Govr. P——l, are urgd by Ministers9 to bring forth such conversations in the House in order { 247 } to feel the pulses of its members upon that topic. If they could well do it, I beleive
they would try to get the opinion of Mr. J. A. (whom I understand is at Paris a Commission
to speak upon peace) upon the mode of making profers to America for tho our ministers
try to make people beleive they know not the nature of Mr. A——ms's Commission, yet
I cannot suppose them so blind and ignorant not to know something of the nature of
it.10 I am your very Obt. Servt.

2. According to the list enclosed with Digges' letter of 8 June (below), enumerating the packages and their contents sent to JA through 10 June, this box was dispatched on 25 April. Digges, however, indicates
later in the present letter that the package contained newspapers up to 26 April.

3. According to Digges' letter of 8 June (below), the second package was sent on 6 May.

4. For the pamphlet carried by George Logan, The Report of a Constitution or Form of Government for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, see Digges' letter of 14 April, and note 2 (above).

5. No list enclosed with this letter has been found, but see notes 2 and 3.

6. Digges' account of the situation at Charleston is essentially a digest of reports
appearing in London newspapers on or about 28 April. For the British invasion fleet,
the forces available to Clinton, and the opening of the siege, see Digges' letter
of 3 March, note 6 (above); for a detailed account of the siege that led to the surrender of Charleston
on 12 May, see Robert Middlekauff, The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution, 1763–1789, N.Y., 1982, p. 438–449.

7. For Ireland the two great national issues were the repeal of Poyning's Law of 1495
and the Irish Declaratory Act of 1719, thereby resulting in Irish legislative independence
(to Edmund Jenings, 27 Feb., note 5, vol. 8:370–371). On 19 April, Henry Grattan moved “that the King's Most Excellent
Majesty and the Lords and Commons of Ireland, were the only power competent to bind,
or enact laws in this kingdom.” After a long debate the motion was postponed and never
considered again. The vote to which Digges refers came at the end of the debate on
an amendment to the motion which declared “the Irish to be subjects as free as the
English.” The amendment was defeated 136 to 97. For the debate, see the London Courant of 27 April.

10. JA inclosed an extract (not found) from this letter in his note of 5 May to Vergennes
(Arch. Aff. Etr., Paris, Corr. Pol., E-U., vol. 12). Vergennes' letter of 10 May and JA's reply of the 12th (both below) indicate that the extract was probably this final paragraph.

Docno: ADMS-06-09-02-0139

Author: Rush, Benjamin

Recipient: Adams, John

Date: 1780-04-28

From Benjamin Rush

This letter will be handed to you by Dr. John Foulke2 (a Graduate in our University) a young gentleman of a respectable Quaker family who
goes to France to finish his Studies in Medicine. He is a youth of a fair character,
and promising Abilities, and friendly to the liberties of his country.

It gave me great pleasure to hear of your safe Arrival, and favourable reception in
Spain. We long to hear of your entering upon the { 248 } business of your embassy. I almost envy your Children the happiness of calling that
man their father who After contributing his Share towards giving liberty and independance,
will finally be honoured as the instrument of restoring peace to the united States of America.

Our Affairs wear their usual checkered Aspect. Our Governments are daily acquiring
new Strength. Our Army which I saw a few weeks ago at Morristown3 has improved greatly since our former correspondence in discipline, Oeconomy, and
healthiness. The number of our Soldiers is small, occasioned not by a decay of the
military, or whiggish Spirit among us, but by the want of money to purchase recruits.
The new Scheme of Congress for calling in the circulating money at 40 to 1, will I
beleive be adopted with some Alterations by the States.4 This will We hope restore to our counsels and arms the vigor of 1775.

The french Alliance is not less dear to the true Whigs than independance itself. The
Chevr. de la Luzerne has made even the tories forget in some degree, in his liberality
and politeness, the Meschianzas5 of their British friends. Monsr. Gerard is still dear to the faithful citizens of
America. We call him the “Republican Minister.”

Charlestown is in Jeopardy, but we beleive all things will work together for good
for those who love the good old cause—the cause not to be repented off. Commerce and agriculture flourish in Spite of the power of Britain by land and water,
and even Pennsylvania enjoys a temporary Security for property and life under her
new Constitution.

3. Rush had been to Washington's headquarters at Morristown in March to testify against
William Shippen Jr., Director General of Hospitals for the Continental Army, at his
court martial (Benjamin Rush, Letters, 1:247–249).

4. On 18 March Congress adopted a plan that was intended to stem the runaway inflation
that was crippling the economy and damaging the war effort. Under the new measure
the monthly payments by the states, which had been set at $15,000,000 by a resolution
of 7 Oct. 1779, would be redeemed at the rate of forty continental dollars to one
Spanish milled dollar (JCC, 16:262–267, 15:1150). This had the immediate effect of revaluing the existing emission
from $200,000,000 to $5,000,000, but was to result in a new emission, as the old was
redeemed and destroyed over a period of approximately thirteen months, of $10,000,000.
So that they would retain their value, the new bills were to be backed by both the
states and { 249 } Congress and carry a five percent interest rate. The plan failed because it proved
impossible for the states to remit all of the funds due Congress in the form of continental
currency, with the result that by June of 1781 only $31,000,000 of the old emission
had been retired. At that point the currency was valued at 500 to 1 and for all intents
had ceased to exist except as a vehicle for speculation (E. James Ferguson, The Power of the Purse, Chapel Hill, 1961, p. 51–53, 64–66).

For the effect of Congress' action on JA's relations with Vergennes, see The Revaluation Controversy, 16 June –1 July, Editorial Note; Vergennes to JA, 21 June; JA to Vergennes, 22 June (second letter), all below.

5. For a description of the mischianza, the elaborate farewell pageant staged by Sir
William Howe's officers upon his departure from Philadelphia in May 1778, see Ira
D. Gruber, The Howe Brothers and the American Revolution, N.Y., 1972, p. 298–299.

Docno: ADMS-06-09-02-0140

Author: Adams, John

Recipient: Genet, Edmé Jacques

Date: 1780-04-29

To Edmé Jacques Genet

[dateline] Paris April 29. 1780

[salute] Dear Sir

Do you think it worth while to work into your next Article, from London, the following
Observation of Lord Bolinbroke?

“The precise Point, at which the Scales of power turn, like that of the Solstice,
in either Tropic, is imperceptible to common Observation; and, in one case, as in
the other, Some progress must be made, in the new direction, before the change is
perceived. They who are in the sinking Scale, for in the political ballance of power,
unlike to all others, the Scale that is empty Sinks, and that which is full rises;
they who are in the Sinking Scale do not easily come off, from the habitual prejudices
of Superiour Wealth, or power, or Skill, or courage, nor from the Confidence, that
these Prejudices inspire. They who are in the rising Scale, do not immediately feel
their Strength, nor assume that Confidence in it, which successfull Experience gives
them afterwards. They who are the most concerned to watch the Variations of this ballance,
misjudge often, in the Same manner, and from the Same Prejudices. They continue to
dread a Power no longer able to hurt them, or they continue to have no apprehension
of a Power, that grows daily more formidable. Spain verified, the first Observation,
when proud and poor, and enterprizing and feeble, she Still thought, herself a Match
for France, France verified the Second Observation, when the tripple Alliance, Stopped
the Progress of her Arms, which Alliances much more considerable, were not able to
effect afterwards. The other principal powers of Europe, in their turns, have verified
the third Observation in both its parts.”1

Sketch of the History and State of Europe.

These Observations were never more remarkably verified, than in these times. The English
proud and porr, and enterprising and feeble, { 250 } Still think themselves a Match for France and Spain, and America2 if not for all the World, but this delirium cannot last long.

France and Spain and Holland continue to dread, a Power no longer able to hurt them,
but this will be over as Soon.

England continues to have Small Apprehensions of Powers, that grow daily more formidable
but these Apprehensions will increase every day.

Your Correspondant from London or Antwerp, among his Lamentations over the Blindness
and Obstinacy, and Madness of the Ministry, may introduce these Observations with
Propriety enough.

The Ballance of Power, was never perhaps Shifted, in So remarkable a manner, and in
So short a Space of Time. If the Minds of the French and Spaniards had grown in Confidence,
in proportion to the Growth of their power; and if the Confidence of the English,
had decreased in proportion to the diminution of theirs, it would have been all over,
with England, before now.

You know very well, that Lord Bolinbroke was the most eloquent Writer, that England
ever produced. His political Writings, particularly, are more admired than any in
that Language. His Name and Authority, added to the obvious Truth of these Observations,
and their apposite Application to the present times, will make an Impression upon
many minds, in all the nations at War. If you think so, and that it will increase
the Spirit of our Friends, and diminish the Insolence of our Ennemies, as it ought,
you will make Use of it, in your own excellent manner. If not, burn it.

1. This quotation is from letter 7, “A Sketch of the State and History of Europe, from
the Pyrenean Treaty in 1659, to the Year 1688,” in Henry St. John, viscount Bolingbroke,
Letters on the Study and Use of History, 2 vols., London, 1752, 1:259–261. Genet printed the piece, together with JA's comments on it, in the Mercure de France, “Journal Politique de Bruxelles” (p. 128–129), of 20 May.

To Edmund Jenings

[dateline] Paris April 29 1780

[salute] Confidential & secret Dear Sir

Thank you for yours of 24. The Pamphlet, was printed by Almon, at the Desire of a
Mr. Hollis who took <an extravagant> mild fancy to the dissertation on the cannon and feudal Law, had it printed and { 251 } bound in an elegant manner, and sent it as a present to Harvard Colledge in Cambridge,
with a Compliment written in it with his own Hand. It was a long story, but it began
with these Words “this is the finest Production that has ever appeared from North
America, the author of it was said to be Jeremy Gridley Esq. but I find that the Author
of it happily, still lives.” He wrote to his Correspondant Dr. Elliot to enquire,
who wrote it. Elliot at last heard from a Gentleman that knew that it was John Adams.
He came to me to know. I told him it was no secret who wrote it, he desired I would
give him leave to mention my name. I told him I had rather be excused for the present.
Hollis wrote over immediately that the Province ought to choose me their Agent at
the Court of St. James's, and 20 other Extravagancies of the like sort.1 The thing itself is indeed but a Bagatelle: but the Time when it was written and
the Effect it certainly produced at the Time, make it of some importance, in a public
View as a document of History, but of more Importance to me, and my Children, as a
family Memorial.

Thank you for the Newspaper, and am of your mind, that all Endeavours in parliament
to reform, will be ineffectual. Reformation must be made in a Congress if any Way.
Corruption has too many hereditary, and legal Supporters in Parliament. Whether it
has or not out of parliament is the question. Whether there is enough of Unanimity
and Firmness among the people, to struggle against this formidable phalanx? But one
thing seems clear, that either the remaining Virtue in the Nation must overcome the
Corruption, or the Corruption will wholly exterminate the remaining Virtue. I see
but one Alternative and no middle Way. Either Absolute Monarchy, or a Republic and
Congress. I am happy to see that York, Surrey and Hertford have resolved against the
American War. We shall see whether these Examples will be followed.

The Astonishment is great Every, where, at the Proclamation against the Dutch, which
is in Effect, little Short of a Declaration of War against Holland, and Russia. Russia
has said I will. England has said you shall not. We shall see, how this question will
be decided. The Lady has on several occasions discerned a Spirit that is not to be
trifled with. Do you know the Character of Panin?2 We see in the Instance of England, what has been observed in a Multitude of Examples,
before that nations do not easily come off, from the Prejudices, of Superiour Wealth,
or Power, Skill or Courage, nor from the Confidence which these prejudices Inspire.3 We see in the Examples of France Spain and Holland, that they who are on the rising
{ 252 } Hand do not immediately feel their Strength, nor assume that confidence in it, which
Successfull Experience gives them afterwards. They continue to dread a power, no longer
able to hurt them. Observations which were applied to Spain, and the nations at War
with her heretofore, when she was in a situation, very similar to the present Case
of G. Britain. But her Pride came down and so must that of G. Britain. I am afraid
Mr. Laurens is not coming. I see he was chosen, by Carolina, a Delegate to Congress,
in January, I think.4 Your Friend Gates will have the Honour of, ruining Clinton yet.

Adieu

LbC (Adams Papers); notation: “Mr <Genet.> Jenings.” In the Letterbook JA's letter of 29 April to Edmé Jacques Genet was the second letter after that to Jenings.

1. For the pamphlet, True Sentiments of America, London, 1768, see JA to Jenings, 20 April, and note 2; and Jenings' reply of 24 April, and note 2 (both above). For the letters of 27 Sept. and 17 Oct. 1768 from Rev. Andrew Eliot,
then minister of Boston's New North Church, to Thomas Hollis identifying JA as the author of the “Dissertation,” see MHS, Colls., 4th ser., 4 [1858]:426–427, 434. Hollis' reply in which he recommended JA's appointment as Massachusetts' agent in England was dated 10 May 1769 (MHi:Thomas Hollis Papers).

2. The preceding two sentences were interlined. Count Nikita Ivanovitch Panin was Catherine
II's chancellor, responsible for the conduct of foreign affairs as president of the
college of foreign affairs (De Madariaga, Armed Neutrality of 1780, p. 17–18).

3. In this and the following five sentences JA is paraphrasing a passage from Viscount Bolingbroke's Letters on the Study and Use of History that he quotes exactly in his letter of 29 April to Edmé Jacques Genet (above).

4. Before assuming his post as commissioner to negotiate a commercial treaty and loan
with the Netherlands, Henry Laurens returned to South Carolina to seek reelection
to Congress as an endorsement of his mission. He was reelected on 1 Feb. (Wallace, Life of Henry Laurens, p. 353; Smith, ed., Letters of Delegates, 14: xxiii).

Docno: ADMS-06-09-02-0142

Author: Adams, John

Recipient: Lee, William

Date: 1780-04-29

To William Lee

[dateline] Paris April 29. 1780

[salute] Dear sir

I have the Honour of yours of the 25th. and am in equal pain with you for Charlestown,
especially Since the Arrival of A Vessell at Nantes from Baltimore, which brings a
certain Account of Clintons Arrival the latter End of February, at the southward,
with forty five Ships, escaped from the Wreck of the Tempest. There is no certain
Account of his Landing nor of the precise Place where he intended to land. G. Gates
was appointed to command in the southern department, and was gone thither, but am
not certain that he was arrived. Gates is a Master of his Profession, and possesses
the Confidence and Affection of the American soldier and Citizen, So that, if Clinton
should get in Possession of Charlestown, it will be but the Tryumph of a day, serve
to give the Ministry a momentary Ecclat, and damp { 253 } the Ardour of <Committees> Associations for a few days: but it will serve the Cause of Patriotism in the End,
by exhausting the ministerial forces in that Part, by leaving more scope for the Armaments
from Brest and Cadiz, wherever they are destined.

Nil admirari,1 is my Maxim in Politicks. I am not surprised at the Proclamation, annulling all Treaties
with the Dutch. This ministry leave themselves no other Resource but such desperate
measures. They pledge themselves, ignorantly and blindly, in such a manner, that when
Events turn up, ever so much against their Plan, they are bound in honour to go on.
They cannot retract nor receed. And So sure, as they now exist they will go on, untill
Force and Arms, obstruct them at home.

I wish with you, that Mr. L. was in Holland, but I fear he is not coming. I see by
an American Paper that in Jany. I think he was reelected into Congress, which looks
As if, he was not only there, but did not intend to come. The Dutch may expect what
they please, but they will expect to all Eternity, if they expect, one Iota of an
exclusive Priviledge in American trade. I wonder in Gods name what obligation We are
under to the dutch? Nor can I conceive what Pretensions they can have to the Fishery,
on the Banks of Newfoundland.

I dont remember to have heard particularly, of your answer being read in Congress.
I heard your Brothers was, from Several Quarters, and I doubt not yours was.2 I know nothing of that Gentlemans being in Congress, there was a paragraph inserted
in a Fish Kill Newspaper, that the following are the Delegates for Connecticut, and
then mentioned that Gentlemans name and Eleven others. But it appeared to me a manifest
fiction. I am myself persuaded, he is not, and will not soon be. I wish I knew the
name of that Gentlemans Agent and Correspondent in Holland.

1. Nothing astonishes. These are the opening words of the sixth letter in bk. 1 of Horace's
Epistles.

2. Arthur Lee's answer of 10 Feb. 1779 to Silas Deane's address “To the Free and Virtuous
Citizens of the United States” was read on 16 July 1779 (JCC, 14:843). For William Lee's answer to the same document, see his letter of 25 April,
note 3 (above).

Docno: ADMS-06-09-02-0143

Author: Adams, John

Recipient: Huntington, Samuel

Recipient: President of Congress

Date: 1780-04-29

This is a summary of a document and does not contain a transcription. If it is available
elsewhere in this digital edition, a page number link will be provided below in the
paragraph beginning "Printed."

To the President of Congress, No. 55

In this letter, received by Congress on 19 Feb. 1781, { 254 } John Adams provided information that had appeared in London newspapers between 11
and 18 April. He included the names of the newly appointed commander and principal
officers of the channel fleet and summarized reports from Portsmouth regarding mutinies
by the crews of the Invincible and Resolution over pay. Both vessels were part of the Rear Adm. Thomas Graves' fleet that was intended
to intercept the French fleet under Ternay (see Thomas Digges' letter of 14 April, and note 5, above). Adams quoted from resolutions opposing the war in America adopted on 14
April by a meeting of “the freeholders of the county of Surry” (see Edmund Jenings'
letter of 24 April, and note 3, above). In a postscript, not printed by Wharton, Adams quoted from resolutions adopted
by the County of Hertford on 17 April to the effect that the war in America, “by obliging
Us to carry all our Forces to that Quarter puts us out of a Condition to resist with
Vigour, As We might otherwise do, the united Efforts of France and Spain while the
Said War produces no other Effect upon the Americans than to add to the Enmity, which
has but too long subsisted between Us: an Enmity, of which We have felt, the fatal
Effects, and which by putting an obstacle to our Union, threatens England, with a
Ruin as compleat as it is inevitable.”